3.2 Kinetic theory

Historically, nonequilibrium statistical physics was first developed as the kinetic theory of gases [7] by Boltzmann. We start with classical systems to explain the problem to be solved in kinetic theory. The more general case of quantum systems contains no additional complications, but the concepts become more evident in the classical limit. We give results for both cases, the general quantum case and the classical limit. Reduced distribution functions are considered as the relevant observables. Closed equations of evolution are obtained describing irreversible processes.
