Beyond the Boltzmann equation for weakly coupled quantum fields
High Energy Physics - Theory
2025-09-03 v2 Statistical Mechanics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Fluid Dynamics
Abstract
We study the kinetic theory of a weakly interacting quantum field. Assuming a state that is close to homogeneous and stationary, we derive a closed kinetic equation for the rate of change of the occupation numbers, perturbatively in the coupling. For a dilute gas, this reproduces the quantum Boltzmann equation, which only accounts for two-to-two scattering processes. Our expression goes beyond this, with terms accounting for multi-particle scattering processes, which are higher order in the density.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.09932,
title = {Beyond the Boltzmann equation for weakly coupled quantum fields},
author = {Xu-Yao Hu and Vladimir Rosenhaus},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.09932},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
19 pages, v2: typos fixed, references added