Stability problems in a nonequilibrium gas

We consider the stability problem for a plane gas layer whose nonequilibrium state is maintained by pumping energy into the molecular vibrational degrees of freedom and by heat removal through the walls. Two approaches to the study of gas stability are discussed, which consider the evolution of small hydrodynamic perturbations and thermal explosion. We have studied in detail the Rayleigh—Benard problem of convection instability and the Semenov—Frank-Kamenetskii problem of thermal explosion, and generalised them to the case of a nonequilibrium gas. Some unsolved problems of the physical hydrodynamics of a nonequilibrium gas have been outlined as well.