Statistical mechanics approach to some problems in conformal geometry

TL;DR

This paper connects statistical mechanics of particle systems with logarithmic potentials to conformal geometry, showing how nonlinear PDEs like the Poisson-Boltzmann and Paneitz equations emerge in both fields and have cross-disciplinary applications.

Contribution

It establishes a probabilistic framework linking particle systems to conformal geometric PDEs, revealing new interpretations and applications in both statistical mechanics and differential geometry.

Findings

Derivation of a law of large numbers for particle systems with logarithmic interactions.

Identification of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation as a key PDE in 2D conformal geometry.

Extension of these ideas to higher dimensions with Paneitz equations.

Abstract

A weak law of large numbers is established for a sequence of systems of N classical point particles with logarithmic pair potential in $\bbR^n$, or $\bbS^n$, $n\in \bbN$, which are distributed according to the configurational microcanonical measure $\delta(E-H)$, or rather some regularization thereof, where H is the configurational Hamiltonian and E the configurational energy. When $N\to\infty$ with non-extensive energy scaling $E=N^2 \vareps$, the particle positions become i.i.d. according to a self-consistent Boltzmann distribution, respectively a superposition of such distributions. The self-consistency condition in n dimensions is some nonlinear elliptic PDE of order n (pseudo-PDE if n is odd) with an exponential nonlinearity. When n=2, this PDE is known in statistical mechanics as Poisson-Boltzmann equation, with applications to point vortices, 2D Coulomb and magnetized plasmas and gravitational systems. It is then also known in conformal differential geometry, where it is the central equation in Nirenberg's problem of prescribed Gaussian curvature. For constant Gauss curvature it becomes Liouville's equation, which also appears in two-dimensional so-called quantum Liouville gravity. The PDE for n=4 is Paneitz' equation, and while it is not known in statistical mechanics, it originated from a study of the conformal invariance of Maxwell's electromagnetism and has made its appearance in some recent model of four-dimensional quantum gravity. In differential geometry, the Paneitz equation and its higher order n generalizations have applications in the conformal geometry of n-manifolds, but no physical applications yet for general n. Interestingly, though, all the Paneitz equations have an interpretation in terms of statistical mechanics.