English

A proof of the mean-field limit for $\lambda$-convex potentials by $\Gamma$-Convergence

Analysis of PDEs 2019-06-12 v1 Probability

Abstract

In this work we give a proof of the mean-field limit for λ\lambda-convex potentials using a purely variational viewpoint. Our approach is based on the observation that all evolution equations that we study can be written as gradient flows of functionals at different levels: in the set of probability measures, in the set of symmetric probability measures on NN variables, and in the set of probability measures on probability measures. This basic fact allows us to rely on Γ\Gamma-convergence tools for gradient flows to complete the proof by identifying the limits of the different terms in the Evolutionary Variational Inequalities (EVIs) associated to each gradient flow. The λ\lambda-convexity of the confining and interaction potentials is crucial for the unique identification of the limits and for deriving the EVIs at each description level of the interacting particle system.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1906.04601,
  title  = {A proof of the mean-field limit for $\lambda$-convex potentials by $\Gamma$-Convergence},
  author = {J. A. Carrillo and M. G. Delgadino and G. A. Pavliotis},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.04601},
  year   = {2019}
}