On the transport operators arising from linearizing the Vlasov-Poisson or Einstein-Vlasov system about isotropic steady states

Abstract

If the Vlasov-Poisson or Einstein-Vlasov system is linearized about an isotropic steady state, a linear operator arises the properties of which are relevant in the linear as well as nonlinear stability analysis of the given steady state. We prove that when defined on a suitable Hilbert space and equipped with the proper domain of definition this transport operator $\mathcal{T}$ is skew-adjoint, i.e., ${\mathcal{T}}^{\ast }=-\mathcal{T}$. In the Vlasov-Poisson case we also determine the kernel of this operator.