Chaotic Scattering Theory of Transport and Reaction-Rate Coefficients

Abstract

The chaotic scattering theory is here extended to obtain escape-rate expressions for the transport coefficients appropriate for a simple classical fluid, or for a chemically reacting system. This theory allows various transport coefficients such as the coefficients of viscosity, thermal conductivity, etc., to be expressed in terms of the positive Lyapunov exponents and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy of a set of phase space trajectories that take place on an appropriate fractal repeller. This work generalizes the previous results of Gaspard and Nicolis for the coefficient of diffusion of a particle moving in a fixed array of scatterers.