Strong shock waves and nonequilibrium response in a one-dimensional gas: A Boltzmann equation approach

We investigate the nonequilibrium behavior of a one-dimensional binary fluid on the basis of Boltzmann equation, using an infinitely strong shock wave as probe. Density, velocity, and temperature profiles are obtained as a function of the mixture mass ratio mu. We show that temperature overshoots near the shock layer, and that heavy particles are denser, slower, and cooler than light particles in the strong nonequilibrium region around the shock. The shock width omega(mu), which characterizes the size of this region, decreases as omega(mu)similar to mu(1/3) for mu -> 0. In this limit, two very different length scales control the fluid structure, with heavy particles equilibrating much faster than light ones. Hydrodynamic fields relax exponentially toward equilibrium: phi(x)similar to exp[-x/lambda]. The scale separation is also apparent here, with two typical scales, lambda(1) and lambda(2), such that lambda(1)similar to mu(1/2) as mu -> 0, while lambda(2), which is the slow scale controlling the fluid's asymptotic relaxation, increases to a constant value in this limit. These results are discussed in light of recent numerical studies on the nonequilibrium behavior of similar one-dimensional binary fluids.