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This book introduces and discusses both the fundamental aspects and the measurability of applications of time-symmetric kinetic quantities, outlining the features that constitute the non-dissipative branch of non-equilibrium physics.These specific features of non-equilibrium dynamics have largely been ignored in standard statistical mechanics texts. This introductory-level book offers novel material that does not take the traditional line of extending standard thermodynamics to the irreversible domain.It shows that although stationary dissipation is essentially equivalent with steady non-equilibrium and ubiquitous in complex phenomena, non-equilibrium is not determined solely by the time-antisymmetric sector of energy-entropy considerations. While this should not be very surprising, this book provides timely, simple reminders of the role of time-symmetric and kinetic aspects in the construction of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics.

This thesis both broadens and deepens our understanding of the Brownian world. It addresses new problems in diffusion theory that have recently attracted considerable attention, both from the side of nanotechnology and from the viewpoint of pure academic research. The author focusses on the difussion of interacting particles in restricted geometries and under externally controlled forces. These geometries serve, for example, to model ion transport through narrow channels in cell membranes or a Brownian particle diffusing in an optical trap, now a paradigm for both theory and experiment.The work is exceptional in obtaining explicit analytically formulated answers to such realistic, experimentally relevant questions. At the same time, with its detailed exposition of the problems and a complete set of references, it presents a clear and broadly accessible introduction to the domain. Many of the problem settings and the corresponding exact asymptotic laws arecompletely new in diffusion theory.

In the present monograph, we develop the kinetic theory of transport phenomena and relaxation processes in the flows of reacting gas mixtures and discuss its applications to strongly non-equilibrium conditions. The main attention is focused on the influence of non-equilibrium kinetics on gas dynamics and transport properties. Closed systems of fluid dynamic equations are derived from the kinetic equations in different approaches. We consider the most accurate approach taking into account the state-to-state kinetics in a flow, as well as simplified multi-temperature and one-temperature models based on quasi-stationary distributions. Within these approaches, we propose the algorithms for the calculation of the transport coefficients and rate coefficients of chemical reactions and energy exchanges in non-equilibrium flows; the developed techniques are based on the fundamental kinetic theory principles. The theory is applied to the modeling of non-equilibrium flows behind strong shock waves, in the boundary layer, and in nozzles. The comparison of the results obtained within the frame of different approaches is presented, the advantages of the new state-to-state kinetic model are discussed, and the limits of validity for simplified models are established. The book can be interesting for scientists and graduate students working on physical gas dynamics, aerothermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, non-equilibrium physical-chemical kinetics, and kinetic theory of gases.