Solution of the Collisionless Boltzmann Equation using a Diagram Technique

Abstract

The diagram technique recently developed by the author (see footnote 1) for the solution of Liouville's equation is extended and suitably modified to cover the case of the collisionless Boltzmann equation for a plasma. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated by two problems. These are: first, the influence of a plane polarized electric wave on the electron distribution function of a low-temperature plasma, and second, the propagation of a (small) initial disturbance for the case of a plasma which is governed by the Vlasov equation (see footnote 8).