Maxwell times in higher-order generalized hydrodynamics: Classical fluids, and carriers and phonons in semiconductors.

Abstract

A family of what can be so-called Maxwell times which arises in the context of higher-order generalized hydrodynamics (HOGH; also called mesoscopic hydrothermodynamics) is evidenced. This is done in the framework of a HOGH built within a statistical formalism in terms of a nonequilibrium statistical ensemble formalism. It consists in a description in terms of the densities of particles and energy and their fluxes of all orders, with the motion described by a set of coupled nonlinear integro-differential equations involving them. These Maxwell times have a fundamental role in determining the type of hydrodynamic motion that the system would display in the given conditions and constraints. They determine a Maxwell viscous force not present in the usual hydrodynamic equations, for example, in Navier-Stokes equation.