MATCHED PAIR ANALYSIS OF THE VLASOV PLASMA

Abstract

We present the Hamiltonian (Lie-Poisson) analysis of the Vlasov plasma, and the dynamics of its kinetic moments, from the matched pair decomposition point of view. We express these (Lie-Poisson) systems as couplings of mutually interacting (Lie-Poisson) subdynamics. The mutual interaction is beyond the well-known semi-direct product theory. Accordingly, as the geometric framework of the present discussion, we address the matched pair Lie-Poisson formulation allowing mutual interactions. Moreover, both for the kinetic moments and the Vlasov plasma cases, we observe that one of the constitutive subdynamics is the compressible isentropic fluid flow, and the other is the dynamics of the kinetic moments of order >= 2. In this regard, the algebraic/geometric (matched pair) decomposition that we offer, is in perfect harmony with the physical intuition. To complete the discussion, we present a momentum formulation of the Vlasov plasma, along with its matched pair decomposition. 1. Introduction. Once a Hamiltonian realization of a physical system has been achieved, the analysis of many qualitative aspects of the system; such as the control, integrability, stability, and the asymptotic behaviour, become much more accessible [1, 3]. As such, in recent years, many physical systems have been studied in the realm of the Hamiltonian dynamics; from the classical models to continuum, as well as the field theories. We refer the reader to [4, 11, 35, 44, 52] for an incomplete list