Introduction

In the analysis of a system with a large number of interacting components (at a microscopic level) it is of clear importance to find out about its collective, or macroscopic, behaviour. This is quite an old problem, going back to the origins of statistical mechanics, in the search for a mathematical characterization of ‘equilibrium states’ in thermodynamical systems. Though the problem is old, and the foundations of equilibrium statistical mechanics have been settled, the general question remains of interest, especially in the set-up of non-equilibrium systems. We could then take as the object of study a (non-stationary) time evolution with a large number (n) of components, where the initial condition and/or the dynamics present some randomness. One example of such a collective description is the so-called hydrodynamic limit. Passing by a space-time scale change (micro → macro) it allows, through a limiting procedure, the derivation of a reduced description in terms of macroscopic variables, such as density and temperature. Other limits, besides the hydrodynamic, may also appear in different situations, giving rise to macroscopic equations.

In all such cases the macroscopic equation indicates the typical behaviour in a limiting situation (n → +∞, and proper rescaling). Thus, it is essential to know something about:

1. rates of convergence, i.e. how are the fluctuations of the macroscopic random fields (for example, the empirical density) around the prescribed value given by the macroscopic equation?

2. how to estimate the chance of observing something quite different than what is prescribed by the macroscopic equation.

1. …