https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-2873-8
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
The Boltzmann equation in classical Yang–Mills theory
1
Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
2
Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47403, USA
3
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
4
European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*) and Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Strada delle Tabarelle 286, 38123 , Villazzano (TN), Italy
* e-mail: trianta@ectstar.eu
Received:
18
March
2014
Accepted:
22
April
2014
Published online:
9
May
2014
We give a detailed derivation of the Boltzmann equation, and in particular its collision integral, in classical field theory. We first carry this out in a scalar theory with both cubic and quartic interactions and subsequently in a Yang–Mills theory. Our method does not rely on a doubling of the fields, rather it is based on a diagrammatic approach representing the classical solution to the problem.
© SIF and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2014
