This journal is devoted to the advancement of the science and technology of thermophysics and heat transfer through the dissemination of original research papers disclosing new technical knowledge and exploratory developments and applications based on new knowledge. It publishes papers that deal with the properties and mechanisms involved in thermal energy transfer and storage in gases, liquids, and solids or combinations thereof. These studies include conductive, convective, and radiative modes alone or in combination and the effects of the environment.

The coupling between vibrational relaxation and dissociation is discussed. A model for computations of dissociation behind strong shock waves is presented. It is shown that the loss of vibrational energy during dissociation introduces an inverse temperature dependence into the observed dissociation rate of O2 between 4000 and 8000K. Changing the model so that dissociation from higher vibrational levels is enhanced results in a dissociation-incubation time immediately behind the shock. The vibrational-energy distribution behind the shock is calculated, and shown to depart considerably from a Boltzmann distribution. The molecular model, which uses a Boltzmann distribution, is shown to give the same result as the non-Boltzmann model for both the nonequilibrium dissociation rate and the dissociation incubation time. (Author).