kostas papamichalis
Topics in Physics - page 7
The evolution of a 2D ideal gas toward the state of thermodynamic equilibrium
The Boltzmann's H-theorem - The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
In this work we describe the theoretical model of an ideal 2-dimensional gas. We show that the velocity distribution function of the gas varies with time and it converges to an equilibrium distribution -the Maxwell-Boltzmann one. We prove that the variation of the velocity distribution with time is caused by the mutual interactions of the particles. Then, we derive the condition satisfied by the probability density in the equilibrium state, and we formulate its analytic expression. Finally, we formulate the Boltzmann's H-theorem: we prove that the velocity distribution of the gas converges with time to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, independently of the initial velocity distribution of the gas. To download the file, click on the image, or:
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