Optimal transport with nonlinear mobilities: a deterministic particle approximation result

Abstract: We study the discretization of generalized Wasserstein distances with nonlinear mobilities on the real line via suitable discrete metrics on the cone of N ordered particles, a setting which naturally appears in the framework of deterministic particle approximation of partial differential equations. In particular, we provide a $\Gamma$-convergence result for the associated discrete metrics as $N \to \infty$ to the continuous one and discuss applications to the approximation of one-dimensional conservation laws (of gradient flow type) via the so-called generalized minimizing movements, proving a convergence result of the schemes at any given discrete time step $\tau>0$. This the first work of a series aimed at shedding new lights on the interplay between generalized gradient-flow structures, conservation laws, and Wasserstein distances with nonlinear mobilities.