Equal-time kinetic equations in a rotational field *

Abstract

Abstract We investigate quantum kinetic theory for a massive fermion system under a rotational field. From the Dirac equation in rotating frame we derive the complete set of kinetic equations for the spin components of the 8- and 7-dimensional Wigner functions. While the particles are no longer on a mass shell in the general case due to the rotation–spin coupling, there are always only two independent components, which can be taken as the number and spin densities. With help from the off-shell constraint we obtain the closed transport equations for the two independent components in the classical limit and at the quantum level. The classical rotation–orbital coupling controls the dynamical evolution of the number density, but the quantum rotation–spin coupling explicitly changes the spin density.