A new test is proposed for approximate kinetic theories of dense fluids: they must reproduce known results concerning the lsquo;lsquo;Kirkwood instabilityrsquo;rsquo; (KI). Since analysis of the KI based upon hierarchy truncations has been shown to yield results which depend sensitively upon the choice of truncation, the proposed test is especially appropriate for kinetic theories based upon truncation. Since the KI arises in the theory of freezing, a kinetic theory used for the study of dynamics associated with freezing should also give a good treatment of the KI. It is shown that the Enskog approximation to kinetic theory passes the test. (AIP)
展开▼
