Particle transport in a host medium with an external source: Exact solutions for a nonlinear homogeneous Boltzmann equation (Q1115280)

The diffusion of Maxwell molecules in a unbounded host medium is considered in the case where the particle density is not conserved in consequence of removal events and through the influence of an external source. Heretofore undiscovered classes of similarity solutions of the corresponding nonlinear isotropic and homogeneous Boltzmann equation are presented and already discovered special solutions are classified in terms of Lie group constants and removal parameters. The conditions under which these homogeneous distribution functions do not violate positivity are discussed, and the restrictions upon the parameters of the underlying collision model are determined.