Uniqueness for the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation in critical Sobolev spaces

Abstract

We study the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation without angular cutoff for very soft potentials satisfying the inverse power law relation $\gamma +4s=1$. Our main results establish the existence, uniqueness, stability and regularization estimates of solutions in the critical Sobolev space $H^{-(\gamma +2s+\frac{3}{2})}$ with a logarithmic correction. Combined with the recently established monotonicity of the Fisher information, the solutions extend globally in time. Our primary tools are energy estimates based on a simultaneous dyadic localization in the phase and frequency variables, together with sharp commutator estimates between the collision operator and the localization operators.

59 pages