For the Boltzmann equation with an external potential force depending only on the space variables, there is a family of stationary solutions, which are local Maxwellians with space dependent density, zero velocity and constant temperature. In this paper, we will study the nonlinear stability of these stationary solutions by using the energy method. The analysis combines the analytic techniques used for the conservation laws using the fluid-type system derived from the Boltzmann equation (cf. [14]) and the dissipative effects on the fluid and non-fluid components of the Boltzmann equation through the celebrated H-theorem. To our knowledge, this is the first result on the global classical solutions to the Boltzmann equation with external force and non-trivial large time behavior in the whole space.

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By introducing a new approximate Green function, we obtain the pointwise estimates on the solutions of Euler equations with linear frictional damping, from which we can deduce the optimal L p (1 p+) convergence rates to the nonlinear diffusion waves. The pointwise estimates and L p (1 p< 2) convergence rates given in this paper are new.

The global existence and uniqueness of classical solutions to the Boltzmann equation without angular cut-off is proved under the condition that the initial data is in some Sobolev space. In addition, the solutions thus obtained are shown to be positive and C in all variables. One of the key observations is the introduction of a new important norm related to the singularity in the cross section of the collision operator. This norm captures the essential property of the singularity and yields precisely the dissipation description of the linearized collision operator through the celebrated H-theorem.