The method of moments and the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of rarefied gases

A generalized variant of the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of rarefied gases based on the linearized equations of Grad’s method of moments is studied. It is shown that despite the more complicated form of the thermodynamic forces, which include spatial derivatives of the fluxes, entropy production remains a bilinear combination of generalized thermodynamic fluxes and forces. Using perturbation theory in the small Knudsen number, the expressions obtained can be reduced to the well-known results of the Chapman-Enskog method at the level of the linearized Burnett approximation. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 2081–2095 (June 1998)