High-order hydrodynamics via lattice Boltzmann methods.

In this work, closure of the Boltzmann-Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (Boltzmann-BGK) moment hierarchy is accomplished via projection of the distribution function f onto a space H(N) spanned by N-order Hermite polynomials. While successive order approximations retain an increasing number of leading-order moments of f , the presented procedure produces a hierarchy of (single) N-order partial-differential equations providing exact analytical description of the hydrodynamics rendered by ( N-order) lattice Boltzmann-BGK (LBBGK) simulation. Numerical analysis is performed with LBBGK models and direct simulation Monte Carlo for the case of a sinusoidal shear wave (Kolmogorov flow) in a wide range of Weissenberg number Wi=taunuk(2) (i.e., Knudsen number Kn=lambdak=square root Wi); k is the wave number, [corrected] tau is the relaxation time of the system, and lambda approximately tauc(s) is the mean-free path, where c(s) is the speed of sound. The present results elucidate the applicability of LBBGK simulation under general nonequilibrium conditions.