Frederick R. W. McCourt

The first two chapters of this book are an update and outgrowth of the monograph Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Polyatomic Gases published by OUP in 1990, and a response to considerable improvements in the experimental determination of the transport properties of dilute gases that have taken place during the past 30 years. The experimental determination has improved sufficiently that it has become necessary to carry out calculations at the level of the second Chapman-Cowling approximation in order to give computed results that lie within the current experimental uncertainties now being reported. Chapter 3 is devoted to realistic interatomic potential energy functions, and begins with a discussion of the need for more accurate representations of these functions. Direct inversion of both microscopic data (spectroscopic transition frequencies and atomic beam scattering) and bulk property data (pressure and acoustic second virial coefficients, transport properties) are discussed in detail. The quantum chemical ab initio determination of binary atomic interaction energies and their analytical representation are discussed, followed by a detailed considerations of the interaction energies between pairs of noble gas atoms. Chapter 4 is concerned with connections between theory and experiment, including a detailed discussion of pure noble gases and their binary mixtures. Chapter 5 focuses on how to obtain the spectroscopic and thermophysical properties of a specific molecular system theoretically step by step, and provides a reference for the specific theoretical calculation work.

Most gases in nature are polyatomic, yet they are not considered in many textbooks of kinetic theory. In recent years they have been the subject of intensive research, and interesting results have been obtained which remain largely unknown. This book reviews the present state of knowledge of the kinetic theory of polyatomic gases, and is the first to provide a comprehensive account of both theoretical and experimental aspects of their behaviour. The first volume deals with dilute gases, in which boundary-layer effects can be neglected. Transport and relaxation phenomena such as heat conduction, diffusion, thermal diffusion, and viscous flow are considered from the point of view of kinetic theory. Special attention is paid to phenomena which do not occur in monatomic gases, including light scattering, nuclear spin relaxation, microwave absorption, and the effects of magnetic and electric fields on transport properties. Volume II begins by establishing the connections between molecular scattering theory and effective cross-sections in dilute gases,and then considers rarefied gases in detail. Detailed theoretical derivations are presented throughout the book, and experimental results and methods are documented in tables and figures. Introductory sections will be of use to graduates with a knowledge of elementary classical and quantum mechanics. The more specialized chapters are aimed at professionals who want information regarding the present state of the art in a particular field or who require data for various phenomena.