Thermal Conductivity of a Gas of Rotating Diamagnetic Molecules in an Applied Magnetic Field

Abstract

The effect of an applied magnetic field on the thermal conductivity of a gas of rotating diamagnetic molecules is determined with the rotational states treated quantum mechanically. The anisotropic part of the thermal conductivity tensor λ is given in terms of square‐bracket integrals and the ratio of the magnetic field H to the equilibrium pressure p of the gas. The square‐bracket integrals to be determined are expressed in terms of reduced relative and center‐of‐mass velocities. The ratio of the saturation values of the anisotropic thermal conductivity when the applied field is parallel to and perpendicular to the temperature gradient is found to be ⅔. Also, a transverse heat flux or Righi—Leduc effect for gases is discussed briefly, and shown to vanish at infinite and zero fields, attaining a maximum somewhere between.