The unsteady Boltzmann kinetic equation and non-equilibrium thermodynamics of an electron gas for the Rayleigh flow problem

Abstract

In the framework of irreversible thermodynamics, the characteristics of the Rayleigh flow problem of a rarified electron gas extracted from neutral atoms is examined and proved to obey the entropic behavior for gas systems. A model kinetic equation of the BGK (Bhatnager–Gross–Krook) type is solved, using the method of moments with a two-sided distribution function. Various macroscopic properties of the electron gas, such as the mean velocity, the shear stress, and the viscosity coefficient, together with the induced electric and magnetic fields, are investigated with respect to both distance and time. The distinction between the perturbed velocity distribution functions and the equilibrium velocity distribution function at different time values is illustrated. We restrict our study to the domain of irreversible thermodynamics processes with small deviation from the equilibrium state to estimate the entropy, entropy production, entropy flux, thermodynamic force, and kinetic coefficient and verify the celebrated Boltzmann H-theorem for non-equilibrium thermodynamic properties of the system. The ratios between the different contributions of the internal energy changes, based upon the total derivatives of the extensive parameters, are predicted via Gibbs’ equation for both diamagnetic and paramagnetic plasmas. The results are applied to a typical model of laboratory argon plasma.