ABSTRACT
A plasma consists of many ions and electrons, but the individual behavior of each particle can hardly be observed. What can be observed instead are statistical averages. In order to describe the properties of a plasma, it is necessary to define a distribution function that indicates particle number density in the phase space whose ordinates are the particle positions and velocities. The distribution function is not necessarily stationary with respect to time. In Section 10.1, the equation governing the distribution function f(qi, pi, t) is derived by means of Liouville’s theorem. Boltzmann equation for the distribution function f(x,v, t) is formulated in Section 10.2. When the collision term is neglected, Boltzmann’s equation is called Vlasov equation. In Section 10.3, the Fokker-Planck collision term is described.
