Paper detail

Kinetic theory for scalar fields with nonlocal quantum coherence

We derive quantum kinetic equations for scalar fields undergoing coherent evolution either in time (coherent particle production) or in space (quantum reflection). Our central finding is that in systems with certain space-time symmetries, quantum coherence manifests itself in the form of new spectral solutions for the dynamical 2-point correlation function. This spectral structure leads to a consistent approximation for dynamical equations that describe coherent evolution in presence of decohering collisions. We illustrate the method by solving the bosonic Klein problem and the bound states for the nonrelativistic square well potential. We then compare our spectral phase space definition of particle number to other definitions in the nonequilibrium field theory. Finally we will explicitly compute the effects of interactions to coherent particle production in the case of an unstable field coupled to an oscillating background.