The Limit of the Boltzmann Equation to the Euler Equations for Riemann Problems

Abstract

The convergence of the Boltzmann equaiton to the compressible Euler equations when the Knudsen number tends to zero has been a long standing open problem in the kinetic theory. In the setting of Riemann solution that contains the generic superposition of shock, rarefaction wave and contact discontinuity to the Euler equations, we succeed in justifying this limit by introducing hyperbolic waves with different solution backgrounds to capture the extra masses carried by the hyperbolic approximation of the rarefaction wave and the diffusion approximation of contact discontinuity.