Book Description

The papers in these proceedings were peer reviewed. The RGD Symposia are highly inter-disciplinary and encompass all aspects of rarefaction and non-equilibrium phenomena in gases. Rarefied flow phenomena include the mechanics and physics of low density gases and the analysis of flows which take place on a spatial scale comparable to the mean free path of a gas. Topics covered include: Kinetic theory and transport theory; numerical methods including direct simulation Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics; gas-surface phenomena; nano- and microscale flows; molecular beams, atom and molecular optics; clusters and aerosols; external flows including space and vacuum technologies; plume flows; hypersonic flows; molecular collision dynamics; relaxation processes; ionized gas flows; physics of the space environment; plasma processing; experimental techniques; diagnostics including laser induced fluorescence and electron beams; applications. With the increase in space activities and microfabrication capabilities, new themes have emerged including rarefied hypersonic flows, non-equilibrium gases, plasma processing, nano- and micro-scale flows at relatively high pressures, along with parallel and hybrid computational developments. Because the RGD Symposia are recognized as the principle forum for the presentation of recent advances in this field, it is a must for engineers and scientists in a variety of specialties.