Interacting Systems far from Equilibrium: Quantum Kinetic Theory

This book presents an up-to-date formalism of non-equilibrium Green's functions covering different applications ranging from solid state physics, plasma physics, cold atoms in optical lattices up to relativistic transport and heavy ion collisions. Within the Green's function formalism, the basic sets of equations for these diverse systems are similar, and approximations developed in one field can be adapted to another field. The central object is the self-energy which includes all non-trivial aspects of the system dynamics. The focus is therefore on microscopic processes starting from elementary principles for classical gases and the complementary picture of a single quantum particle in a random potential. This provides an intuitive picture of the interaction of a particle with the medium formed by other particles, on which the Green's function is built on.