Scaling and Expansion of Moment Equations in Kinetic Theory

The set of generalized 13 moment equations for molecules interacting with power law potentials [Struchtrup, Multiscale Model. Simul. 3:211 (2004)] forms the base for an investigation of expansion methods in the Knudsen number and other scaling parameters. The scaling parameters appear in the equations by introducing dimensionless quantities for all variables and their gradients. Only some of the scaling coefficients can be chosen independently, while others depend on these chosen scales–their size can be deduced from a Chapman–Enskog expansion, or from the principle that a single term in an equation cannot be larger in size by one or several orders of magnitude than all other terms. It is shown that for the least restrictive scaling the new order of magnitude expansion method [Struchtrup, Phys. Fluids 16(11):3921 (2004)] reproduces the original equations after only two expansion steps, while the classical Chapman–Enskog expansion would require an infinite number of steps. Both methods yield the Euler and Navier–Stokes– Fourier equations to zeroth and first order. More restrictive scaling choices, which assume slower time scales, small velocities, or small gradients of temperature, are considered as well.