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Physical Review Letters

Equilibration in Finite Fermion Systems

Georg Wolschin

Published Apr 12, 1982• 32 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A novel nonlinear transport equation for the time-dependent single-particle occupation numbers in an equilibrating fermion system is derived. In the case of constant transport coefficients its analytical solution together with an expression for the equilibration time is obtained. Applications in mean-field theories extended to include particle collisions for the description of low-energy heavy-ion reactions are envisaged.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.48.1004

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A novel nonlinear transport equation for the time-dependent single-particle occupation numbers in an equilibrating fermion system is derived. In the case of constant transport coefficients its analytical solution together with an expression for the equilibration time is obtained. Applications in mean-field theories extended to include particle collisions for the description of low-energy heavy-ion reactions are envisaged.
Local kinetic equilibration is a prerequisite for hydrodynamics to be valid. Here it is described through a nonlinear diffusion equation for finite systems of fermions and bosons. The model is solved exactly for constant transport coefficients in both cases. It has the proper Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein equilibrium limits and can replace the relaxation-time approximation (RTA). The microscopic transport coefficients are determined through the macroscopic variables temperature and local equilibration time. Applications to the transverse energy of quarks and gluons in the initial stages of central relativistic heavy-ion collisions, and to bosonic and fermionic atoms at low energies appropriate for cold quantum gases are discussed.
In the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation, the fermions are assumed to interact only through the mean field and the collisions between particles are neglected. We formulate an extended time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation which incorporates particle collisions due to the residual interaction, with the usual time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation as the collisionless limit. It is obtained by a truncation of the Martin-Schwinger hierarchy at the second level and by using a simple representation of the one-body Green's function in terms of time-dependent occupation numbers. The final set of coupled equations consists of a modified time-dependent Hartree-Fock equation and a master equation for the occupation numbers. These results are physically transparent and describe properly the physics of the collision process. They may also be simple enough to be of practical use to study heavy-ion collisions or the dynamics of other fermion systems. Furthermore, as the configuration-space analog of the quantum Boltzmann equation, many important results concerning statistical dynamics are obtained. Concepts such as entropy, temperature, and local and thermal equilibrium can be quantitatively introduced. The well-known HHH theorem that entropy never decreases can be readily recovered. With the collision term explicitly exhibited, the macroscopic equations (equations of continuity, momentum flux, and energy) and their associated conservation theorems can also be derived. Analytic solutions for the master equation for simple cases lead to new "level crossing" formulas having characteristics distinctly different from the Landau-Zener level-crossing formula and illuminate the salient features as to how a nonequilibrium fermion system approaches thermal equilibrium.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Extension of time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. Collisions between particles. Master equation for occupation probabilities. Entropy, temperature, and thermal equilibrium. HHH theorem. Analytic solution of the master equation. New types of level crossing formula.
We solve the Kadanoff-Baym equations for nonequilibrium initial configurations of the φ 4-theory in 2+1 dimensions and compare to explicit solutions of generalized transport equations for the same theory. The latter transport equations are derived from the Kadanoff-Baym equation in a first order gradient expansion in phase space and explicitly retain the off-shell dynamics as inherent in the timedependent spectral functions. The solutions of these equations compare very well with the exact solutions of the full Kadanoff-Baym equations with respect to the occupation numbers of the individual modes, the spectral evolution as well as the chemical equilibration process. Furthermore, the proper equilibrium off-shell distribution is reached for large times contrary to the quasiparticle Boltzmann limit. We additionally present a direct comparison of the solution of the generalized transport equations in the Kadanoff-Baym and Botermans-Malfliet form; both solutions are found to agree very well with each other. PACS: 06.60.+w; 05.70.Ln; 11.10.Wx; 24.10.-i; 25.75.-q Keywords: Many-body theory; finite temperature field theory; out-of-equilibrium quantum field theory; nonequilibrium statistical physics; relativistic heavy-ion collisions Part of the PhD thesis of S. Juchem
We analyze the equilibration process between two either fermionic or bosonic reservoirs containing ultracold atoms with a fixed total number of particles that are weakly connected via a few-level quantum system. We allow for both the temperatures and particle densities of the reservoirs to evolve in time. Subsequently, linearizing the resulting equations enables us to characterize the equilibration process and its time scales in terms of equilibrium reservoir properties and linear-response transport coefficients. Additionally, we investigate the use of such a device as particle transistor or particle capacitor and analyze its efficiency.