Temperature profile of a dilute gas undergoing a plane Poiseuille flow

The temperature and the pressure profile of a dilute or moderately rarefied gas undergoing a plane Poiseuille flow are calculated and compared with simulation data for a gas of hard spheres as first presented by Malek Mansour, Baras and Garcia (Physica A 240 (1997) 225). The Boltzmann equation is solved by the moment method. The desired solution including terms up to second order in the applied force driving the flow, requires the use of a 19 moments approximation. It comprises results based on somewhat simpler 13 moments approximation which are qualitatively reasonable for the present problem.