Transport Phenomena and Kinetic Theory (Birkhauser 2007)

The study of kinetic equations related to gases, semiconductors, photons, traffic flow, and other systems has developed rapidly in recent years because of its role as a mathematical tool in many applications in areas such as engineering, meteorology, biology, chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, and pharmacy. Written by leading specialists in their respective fields, this book presents an overview of recent developments in the field of mathematical kinetic theory with a focus on modeling complex systems, emphasizing both mathematical properties and their physical meaning.

The overall presentation covers not only modeling aspects and qualitative analysis of mathematical problems, but also inverse problems, which lead to a detailed assessment of models in connection with their applications, and to computational problems, which lead to an effective link of models to the analysis of real-world systems. The book is divided into three parts: Part I presents fundamental aspects of the Boltzmann equation; Part II deals with the modeling of semiconductor devices as well as related applications and computational topics; Part III covers a variety of applications in physics and the natural sciences, offering a range of very different conceivable developments of mathematical kinetic theory.

Transport Phenomena and Kinetic Theory is an excellent self-study reference for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners working in pure and applied mathematics, mathematical physics, and engineering. The work may be used in courses or seminars on selected topics in transport phenomena or applications of the Boltzmann equation.