Evaporation and condensation on a plane condensed phase: Numerical analysis of the linearized Boltzmann equation for hard-sphere molecules

The behavior of a semi-infinite expanse of a gas bounded by its plane condensed phase, where evaporation or condensation is taking place, is considered on the basis of the linearized Boltzmann equation for hard-sphere molecules. The half-space boundary-value problem of the linearized Boltzmann equation for hard-sphere molecules is solved numerically by the finite difference method introduced in the temperature jump problem by the authors. The local behavior of the gas (the velocity distribution function of gas molecules, the density and temperature of the gas, etc.) as well as the relations among the macroscopic variables on the condensed phase and at infinity is obtained.