Variational structure of Fokker-Planck equations with variable mobility

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Liu, Hailiang, Tzavaras, Athanasios E.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Liu, Hailiang
Tzavaras, Athanasios E.
author_facet Liu, Hailiang
Tzavaras, Athanasios E.
contents We study Fokker--Planck equations with symmetric, positive definite mobility matrices capturing diffusion in heterogeneous environments. A weighted Wasserstein metric is introduced for which these equations are gradient flows. This metric is shown to emerge from an optimal control problem in the space of probability densities for a class of variable mobility matrices, with the cost function capturing the work dissipated via friction. Using the Nash-Kuiper isometric embedding theorem for Riemannian manifolds, we demonstrate the existence of optimal transport maps. Additionally, we construct a time-discrete variational scheme, establish key properties for the associated minimizing problem, and prove convergence to weak solutions of the associated Fokker-Planck equation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_10676
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Variational structure of Fokker-Planck equations with variable mobility
Liu, Hailiang
Tzavaras, Athanasios E.
Optimization and Control
Analysis of PDEs
35A15, 35K55, 60J60
We study Fokker--Planck equations with symmetric, positive definite mobility matrices capturing diffusion in heterogeneous environments. A weighted Wasserstein metric is introduced for which these equations are gradient flows. This metric is shown to emerge from an optimal control problem in the space of probability densities for a class of variable mobility matrices, with the cost function capturing the work dissipated via friction. Using the Nash-Kuiper isometric embedding theorem for Riemannian manifolds, we demonstrate the existence of optimal transport maps. Additionally, we construct a time-discrete variational scheme, establish key properties for the associated minimizing problem, and prove convergence to weak solutions of the associated Fokker-Planck equation.
title Variational structure of Fokker-Planck equations with variable mobility
topic Optimization and Control
Analysis of PDEs
35A15, 35K55, 60J60
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.10676