The quantum mechanical Landau equation

Abstract

The significance of quantum mechanical effects on the short time development of the Landau equation is examined. The analysis is undertaken using the density diagram technique of Prigogine and Balescu. Owing to the apparent similarity that exists between the density diagrams and the more familiar Feynman diagrams derived from generalized Green functions a short discussion of both techniques is presented. The solution is undertaken for small h/m and does not necessarily apply to electrons. It is found that quantum mechanical effects may become significant at a number density around 10 14 , which is the lower bound in density that an earlier analysis suggested. Non-Markovian effects may be significant.