ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY IN A DILUTE GAS FAR FROM EQUILIBRIUM

Electrical conductivity of a minor constituent of charged particles th rough a background of neutral particles is studied in the limit of sma ll electrical fields. The neutral gas is in a steady state with both a rbitrary velocity and temperature gradients. The results are obtained from the Gross-Krook model [Phys. Rev. 102, 593 (1956)] of the Boltzma nn equation for a binary mixture. The transport properties of the char ged species are obtained from a perturbation expansion in powers of th e electrical field. In the first order, the current density obeys a ge neralized Ohm's law where an electrical conductivity tensor is identif ied. The nonzero elements of this tensor are nonlinear functions of th e shear rate, the mass ratio, and the force constant ratio. The result s show that, in general, the presence of the shear produces an inhibit ion in the diffusion of charged particles.