Calculation of the linear kernel of the collision integral for the hard-sphere potential

The expansion of a distribution function in spherical harmonics transforms the Boltzmann equation into a system of integro-differential equations with kernels depending only of the magnitudes of velocities. The kernels can be expressed in terms of the sums including the matrix elements (MEs) of the collision integral. The kernels are constructed using new results of ME calculations; analysis of errors is carried out with the help of analytic expressions for kernels, which were derived by Hilbert and Hecke for the hard-sphere model. The concept of generalized matrix elements is introduced and their asymptotic representation is constructed for large values of indices. Analytic expressions for the contribution from MEs with large indices to the kernels are constructed. The high accuracy of the construction of a kernel using MEs is demonstrated.