Theory of Transport Coefficients in Low-Density Gases

The evaluation of the correlation-function expressions for transport coefficients is discussed. It is shown that for the case of a low-density nondegenerate monatomic gas with short-range interactions, results are obtained which are in agreement with those usually found from the Boltzmann equation. The analysis makes use of a generalized master equation, and of the factorization theorem of Kac. While the main concern is with low-density gases, the methods developed have a wider range of application.