Experimental investigation of the viscomagnetic diffusion flux

In a viscous flow of rarefied gas mixture containing polyatomic molecules, transverse diffusion can occur under the influence of an external magnetic field. This “viscomagnetic diffusion flux”, which has its origin in the angular momentum dependent polarization produced by nonspherical interaction, was experimentally investigated for N2He and N2Ar mixtures at 295 K. The results are compared with kinetic theory predictions for the bulk contribution to this effect. Although qualitative agreement is excellent, a quantitative comparison indicates that a complete theory has to include the effect of the boundary layer on the behavior of angular momentum polarizations.