An Algorithmic Solution to the Boltzmann Equation
Floor Speech
Mr. McNERNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to announce a new advancement in mathematics: an algorithmic solution to the full Boltzmann equation that has taken 140 years to solve.
The full seven-dimensional Boltz mann equation provides a crucial link between the microscopic, or quantum, behavior of atomic particles on the one hand and the behavior of matter that we humans observe on the other hand. It does this by predicting how gaseous material responds to external influences, such as changes in temperature and pressure, quickly settling to a stable equilibrium.
The solution of this equation gives us an understanding of grazing collisions, when molecules glance off one another, which is the dominant type of collision. The algorithm uses a range of geometric fractional derivatives from kinetic theory.
I congratulate the authors, Philip Gressman and Robert Strain, from the University of Pennsylvania on this advancement; and I commend the National Science Foundation for supporting these scientists in their work.
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