From Kadanoff-Baym to Boltzmann equations for massive spin-<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math> fermions
Xin-Li Sheng, Nora Weickgenannt, Enrico Speranza, Dirk H. Rischke, Qun Wang
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 quasiclassical parts of the Wigner functions. Nonlocal collision terms appear at next-to-leading order in $\ensuremath{\hbar}$ 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.