English

A Kernel Formula for Kinetic Fokker-Planck Equations

Numerical Analysis 2026-08-06 v1

Abstract

We derive an explicit one-step kernel formula for the kinetic Fokker-Planck equation. The construction begins with a reference dynamics admitting an explicit transition kernel and uses a carefully chosen auxiliary weight to encode the drift perturbation. The resulting kernel formula provides an explicit approximation of the density evolution. In a weighted phase-space setting, we establish local weak consistency and first-order finite-time weak convergence under suitable regularity and moment assumptions. We also give a formal variational interpretation of the formula in terms of a regularized Wasserstein-type proximal operator and present analogous constructions for a broader class of parabolic equations. Numerical experiments illustrate the accuracy of the kernel approximation and its application to deterministic particle schemes for kinetic sampling.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.05770,
  title  = {A Kernel Formula for Kinetic Fokker-Planck Equations},
  author = {Fuqun Han and Wuchen Li},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.05770},
  year   = {2026}
}