DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE PROPAGATION OF
SOUND WAVES IN A PERFECT GAS AT LOW PRESSURE

A. N. Volobuev and A. P. Tolstonogov

UDC 530

The minimum possible pressure at which a sound wave can 
propagate in a perfect gas has been found based on the dispersion 
relation. Using the molecular-kinetic theory it has been shown that 
this process can occur with such a minimum density when a quarter 
of a wavelength fits into the distance between molecules. A certain 
analogy between the propagation of a sound wave under these conditions 
and the propagation of an electromagnetic-energy quantum has been 
noted.

Academician S. P. Korolev Samara State Aerospace University, 
Samara, Russia; email: volobuev@samaramail.ru. Translated from 
Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 76, No. 1, pp. 138-141, 
January-February, 2003. Original article submitted June 11, 2002.