Consistently ordered extended thermodynamics -- a proposal for an alternative method (Q2501845)

Extended thermodynamics is a nonequilibrium thermodynamic theory which improves the results of classical local-equilibrium thermodynamics for rapidly changing fields or steep gradients [\textit{I. Müller} and \textit{T. Ruggeri}, Rational extended thermodynamics. New York: Springer (1998; Zbl 0895.00005)]. A new version of extended thermodynamics, the so-called consistently ordered extended thermodynamics [\textit{I. Müller, D. Reitebuch} and \textit{W. Weiss}, Contin. Mech. Thermodyn. 15, No. 2, 113--146 (2003; Zbl 1057.80002)] assigns an order of magnitude in steepness to the variables. In this theory, the variables are the moments constructed from the irreducible parts of the Hermite polynomials in the components of the atomic velocity but the equations look complicated and their derivation is difficult. In the present paper, the author considers instead the usual moments constructed with simple polynomials of the components of the atomic velocity and derives the field equations corresponding to two different one-dimensional processes: heat conduction in a gas at rest and heat conduction with one-dimensional motion. The sets of equations coincide with those of consistently ordered extended thermodynamics, but their form is less complicated and they are easier to obtain.