APPLICATIONS OF TRANSPORT THEORY TO QUARK-GLUON PLASMA*

ABSTRACT: Applications of transport theory methods in quark-gluon plasma physics are reviewed. At first, the basic transport equations and parton distribution functions are presented and briefly discussed. Then, I consider the locally colorless plasma, where the dynamical content of QCD enters only through the parton-parton scattering cross sections. The hydrodynamics of such a plasma and transport coefficients are discussed. Further, the response of the colored plasma to a chromodynamic field is considered. The knowledge of the response function allows to study plasma oscillations around any quasi-stable colorless state, in particular, around the global thermodynamical equilibrium. Then, I discuss the hydrodynamic description of the colored plasma and the respective kinetic coefficients. At the end a very brief review of other transport theory applications to quark-gluon plasma is given