Stability for Rayleigh-Benard convective solutions of the Boltzmann equation

Journal article, 2010

We consider the Boltzmann equation for a gas in a horizontal slab, subject to a gravitational force. The boundary conditions are of diffusive type, specifying the wall temperatures, so that the top temperature is lower than the bottom one (Benard setup). We consider a 2-dimensional convective stationary solution, which for small Knudsen numbers is close to the convective stationary solution of the Oberbeck-Boussinesq equations, near and above the bifurcation point, and prove its stability under 2-d small perturbations, for Rayleigh numbers above and close to the bifurcation point and for small Knudsen numbers.