Controllability and kinetic limit of spherical particles immersed in a viscous fluid

Abstract

This paper deals with systems of spherical particles immersed in a viscous fluid. Two aspects are studied, namely the controllability of such systems, with particular attention to the case of one active particle and either one or two passive ones, and the kinetic limit of such systems as the number of particles diverges. The former issue is tackled in the framework of geometric control theory, whereas the latter resorts to Boltzmann-type formulations of the system of interacting particles.