We review what is known, unknown, and expected about the mathematical properties of Coulomb and Riesz gases. Those describe infinite configurations of points in interacting with the Riesz potential ±|x|−s (respectively, −log |x| for s = 0). Our presentation follows the standard point of view of statistical mechanics, but we also mention how these systems arise in other important situations (e.g., in random matrix theory). The main question addressed in this Review is how to properly define the associated infinite point process and characterize it using some (renormalized) equilibrium equation. This is largely open in the long range case s < d. For the convenience of the reader, we give the detail of what is known in the short range case s > d. Finally, we discuss phase transitions and mention what is expected on physical grounds.
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June 2022
Review Article|
June 02 2022
Coulomb and Riesz gases: The known and the unknown
Special Collection:
Special collection in honor of Freeman Dyson
Mathieu Lewin
Mathieu Lewin
a)
CNRS & CEREMADE, Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL University
, Place de Lattre de Tassigny, 75 016 Paris, France
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: mathieu.lewin@math.cnrs.fr
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: mathieu.lewin@math.cnrs.fr
Note: This paper is part of the special collection in Honor of Freeman Dyson.
J. Math. Phys. 63, 061101 (2022)
Article history
Received:
January 29 2022
Accepted:
April 29 2022
Citation
Mathieu Lewin; Coulomb and Riesz gases: The known and the unknown. J. Math. Phys. 1 June 2022; 63 (6): 061101. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0086835
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