Nonequilibrium Kinetics: Explicit Time Dependence of Perturbed Distribution Functions and Autocorrelation Expressions

The explicit time dependence of perturbed distribution functions is considered for a chemically reacting dilute gas mixture. The solutions obtained for the distribution functions approach in time the normal solutions of a Chapman–Enskog perturbation treatment within a few mean free times and provide an autocorrelation expression for the first nonequilibrium correction to the rate coefficient for a bimolecular gas-phase reaction. To illustrate the results, explicit solutions are obtained for two model systems.