BOUND-STATE EFFECTS ON THE CLASSICAL BOLTZMANN-EQUATION

In some derivations of the Boltzmann equation, the equation which describes the time evolution of the distribution function in the phase space of the atoms of a low-density gas, it has been assumed that all of the trajectories in the phase space of the pairs of atoms are such that transforming back sufficiently far in time leads to separated atoms. In the present development, it is shown that if this is not true the "bound-state" region of the phase space of pairs of atoms leads to an additional term in the linearized Boltzmann equation. This additional term will lead to differences in the low-density limiting values of the transport coefficients from those which have been obtained from the classic equation of Boltzmann.