Kinetic approach to chemical reactions and inelastic transitions in a rarefied gas

A kinetic approach is presented for the analysis of a gas mixture with two kinds of nonconservative interactions. In a bimolecular chemical reaction, mass transfer and energy of chemical link arise, and in inelastic mechanical encounters, molecules get excited or de‐excited due to their quantized structure. Molecules undergo transitions between energy levels also by absorption and emission of photons of the self‐consistent radiation field. From the kinetic Boltzmann‐type equations, the problem of equilibria and of their stability is addressed. A detailed balance principle is proved and a Lyapunov functional is constructed; mass action law and Planck's law of radiation are recovered. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.