The theory of viscous diffusion in the presence of a magnetic field (Q1080756)

The diffusion flux occurring in an isothermal viscous flow of a rarefied binary gas mixture is studied within the framework of kinetic theory in first and second order Chapman-Enskog approximation. For polyatomic gases the diffusion flux is influenced by an external magnetic field because of the presence of angular momentum polarizations. Special attention is given to the dependence of this ''viscomagnetic diffusion flux'' on the orientation of the field with respect to the gas flow. As an application the field induced transverse diffusion flux in \(N_ 2\)-He and \(N_ 2\)-Ar mixtures at room temperature is calculated using data derived from other Senftleben-Beenakker effects. The results provide theoretical expressions for the bulk contribution of this phenomenon, to be compared with experimental results presented in a subsequent paper.