Local well-posedness for the Boltzmann equation with hard potentials
Analysis of PDEs
2026-02-24 v1
Abstract
We consider the spatially inhomogeneous non-cutoff Boltzmann equation with hard potentials in the non-perturbative setting. For initial data with polynomial decay in the velocity variable, we establish the local-in-time existence and uniqueness of weak solutions, conditional to pointwise bounds on the hydrodynamic quantities (mass, energy, and entropy). Compared to the soft potential case, the key challenge for full-range hard potentials lies in the more severe loss of velocity moments. The proof combines a hypoelliptic estimate with interpolation inequalities to handle the moment-loss terms.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.19148,
title = {Local well-posedness for the Boltzmann equation with hard potentials},
author = {Hao-Guang Li and Wei-Xi Li and Chao-Jiang Xu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.19148},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
50 pages