Pseudospectral Methods of Solution of the Linear and Linearized Boltzmann Equations; Transport and Relaxation

摘要

The study of the solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation has a very long history arising from the classic work by Chapman and Cowling. For small departures from a Maxwellian, the nonlinear Boltzmann equation can be linearized and the transport coefficients calculated with the Chapman-Enskog approach. This procedure leads to a set of linear integral equations which are generally solved with the expansion of the departure from Maxwellian in Sonine polynomials. The method has been used successfully for many decades to compare experimental transport data in atomic gases with theory generally carried out for realistic atom-atom differential cross sections. There are alternate pseudospectral methods which involve the discretization of the distribution function on a discrete grid. This paper considers a pseudospectral method of solution of the linearized hard sphere Boltzmann equation for the viscosity in a simple gas. The relaxation of a small departure from a Maxwellian is also considered for the linear test particle problem with unit mass ratio which is compared with the relaxation for the linearized one component Boltzmann equation.