A temperature and mass dependence of the linear Boltzmann collision operator from group theory point of view

The Lie group of the transformations affecting the parameters of the linear Boltzmann collision operator such as temperature of background gas and ratio of masses of colliding particles and molecules is discovered. The group also describes the conservation laws for collisions and main symmetries of the collision operator. New algebraic properties of the collision operator are derived. Transformations acting on the variables and parameters and leaving the linear Boltzmann kinetic equation invariant are found. For the constant collision frequency the integral representation of solutions for nonuniform case in terms of the distribution function of particles drifting in a gas with zero temperature is deduced. The new exact relaxation solutions are obtained too. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.