The Chapman?Enskog Solution of the Boltzmann Equation: A Reformulation in Terms of Irreducible Tensors and Matrices

Abstract

The Chapman-Enskog method of solving the Boltzmann equation is presented in a simpler and more efficient form. For this purpose all the operations involving the usual polynomials are carried out in spherical polar coordinates, and the Racah-Wigner methods of dealing with irreducible tensors are used throughout. The expressions for the collision integral and the associated bracket expressions of kinetic theory are derived in terms of Talmi coefficients, which have been extensively studied in the harmonic oscillator shell model of nuclear physics.