On Singular Limits of Mean-Field Equations

Abstract

Mean-field equations arise as steady state versions of convection-diffusion systems where the convective field is determined by solution of a Poisson equation whose right-hand side is affine in the solutions of the convection-diffusion equations. In this paper we consider the repulsive coupling case for a system of two convection-diffusion equations. For general diffusivities we prove the existence of a unique solution of the mean-field equation by a variational analysis of a saddle point problem (usually without coercivity). Also we analyze the small-Debye-length limit and prove convergence to either the so-called charge-neutral case or to a double obstacle problem for the limiting potential depending on the data.