Theory and Application of the Boltzmann Equation

Abstract

The book provides an excellent compendium of modern approaches to the Boltzmann equation and to techniques for obtaining exact solutions to approximate forms of the equation, or approximate solutions to the complete equation.Primary emphasis in the book is on the application of classical kinetic theory to the flow of monatomic neutral gases.The problems considered span the range of Knudsen numbers from continuum flow to free molecule flow.The solution techniques discussed include analytical solutions to model equations, moment methods, perturbation methods, variational methods, discrete velocity methods, and Monte Carlo methods.Of necessity, most of the discussion pertains to problems capable of being represented by a linearized version of the Boltzmann equation or model equation.Of particular interest is a complete chapter devoted to gas surface interactions and the implications of such interactions relative to boundary conditions for the Boltzmann equation.The book ends with a presentation of existence and uniqueness results for the Boltzmann equation.The bibliography is extensive and references pertinent material through 1974.The book should be of interest to all involved in solution of flow problems requiring the use of kinetic theory methods.