Spectral and formal stability criteria of spatially inhomogeneous stationary solutions to the Vlasov equation for the Hamiltonian mean-field model

TL;DR

This paper develops spectral and formal stability criteria for spatially inhomogeneous stationary solutions of the Vlasov equation in the Hamiltonian mean-field model, clarifying stability conditions for complex solutions.

Contribution

It provides necessary and sufficient spectral and formal stability criteria for inhomogeneous solutions, improving upon previous less refined methods.

Findings

Identifies stability conditions for inhomogeneous solutions.

Discovers a family of stationary solutions with two-phase coexistence.

Clarifies stability of solutions previously misclassified.

Abstract

Stability of spatially inhomogeneous solutions to the Vlasov equation is investigated for the Hamiltonian mean-field model to provide the spectral stability criterion and the formal stability criterion in the form of necessary and sufficient conditions. These criteria determine stability of spatially inhomogeneous solutions whose stability has not been decided correctly by using a less refined formal stability criterion. It is shown that some of such solutions can be found in a family of stationary solutions to the Vlasov equation, which is parametrized with macroscopic quantities and has a two-phase coexistence region in the parameter space.