Nonlinear response for external field and perturbation in the Vlasov system

Abstract: A nonlinear response theory is provided by use of the transient linearization method in the spatially one-dimensional Vlasov systems. The theory inclusively gives responses to external fields and to perturbations for initial stationary states, and is applicable even to the critical point of a second order phase transition. We apply the theory to the Hamiltonian mean-field model, a toy model of a ferromagnetic body, and investigate the critical exponent associated with the response to the external field at the critical point in particular. The obtained critical exponent is nonclassical value 3/2, while the classical value is 3. However, interestingly, one scaling relation holds with another nonclassical critical exponent of susceptibility in the isolated Vlasov systems. Validity of the theory is numerically confirmed by directly simulating temporal evolutions of the Vlasov equation.