Asymptotic analysis of Vlasov-type equations under strong local alignment regime

Abstract

We consider the hydrodynamic limit of a collisionless and non-diffusive kinetic equation under strong local alignment regime. The local alignment is first considered by Karper, Mellet and Trivisa in [On strong local alignment in the kinetic Cucker-Smale model, in Hyperbolic Conservation Laws and Related Analysis with Applications, Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, Vol. 49 (Springer, 2014), pp. 227-242], as a singular limit of an alignment force proposed by Motsch and Tadmor in [A new model for self-organized dynamics and its flocking behavior, J. Statist. Phys. 141 (2011) 923-947]. As the local alignment strongly dominates, a weak solution to the kinetic equation under consideration converges to the local equilibrium, which has the form of mono-kinetic distribution. We use the relative entropy method and weak compactness to rigorously justify the weak convergence of our kinetic equation to the pressureless Euler system.