The Boltzmann Equation in Classical Yang-Mills Theory

Abstract

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 is not relied on a doubling of the fields, rather it is based on a diagrammatic approach representing the classical solution to the problem.

24 pages, 7 figures; v2: typos corrected, reference added, published in Eur. Phys. J. C