English

From Kadanoff--Baym to Boltzmann equations for massive spin-1/2 fermions

Nuclear Theory 2021-08-04 v1

Abstract

We derive Boltzmann equations for massive spin-1/2 fermions with local and nonlocal collision terms from the Kadanoff--Baym equation in the Schwinger--Keldysh formalism, properly accounting for the spin degrees of freedom. The Boltzmann equations are expressed in terms of matrix-valued spin distribution functions, which are the building blocks for the quasi-classical parts of the Wigner functions. Nonlocal collision terms appear at next-to-leading order in \hbar and are sources for the polarization part of the matrix-valued spin distribution functions. The Boltzmann equations for the matrix-valued spin distribution functions pave the way for simulating spin-transport processes involving spin-vorticity couplings from first principles.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2103.10636,
  title  = {From Kadanoff--Baym to Boltzmann equations for massive spin-1/2 fermions},
  author = {Xin-Li Sheng and Nora Weickgenannt and Enrico Speranza and Dirk H. Rischke and Qun Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.10636},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

RevTex 4, 24 pages, 2 figures