General properties of nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations

Abstract

Recently, several authors have tried to extend the usual concepts of thermodynamics and kinetic theory in order to deal with distributions that can be non-Boltzmannian. For dissipative systems described by the canonical ensemble, this leads to the notion of nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation (T.D. Frank, Non Linear Fokker-Planck Equations, Springer, Berlin, 2005). In this paper, we review general properties of nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations, consider the passage from the generalized Kramers to the generalized Smoluchowski equation in the strong friction limit, and provide explicit examples for Boltzmann, Tsallis and Fermi-Dirac entropies.

Paper presented at the international conference CTNEXT07, 1-5 july 2007, Catania, Italy