Dynamics of a classical gas including dissipative and mean field effects

Abstract

By means of a scaling ansatz, we investigate an approximated solution of the Boltzmann-Vlasov equation for a classical gas. Within this framework, we derive the frequencies and the damping of the collective oscillations of a harmonically trapped gas and we investigate its expansion after release of the trap. The method is well suited to studying the collisional effects taking place in the system and in particular to discussing the crossover between the hydrodynamic and the collisionless regimes. An explicit link between the relaxation times relevant for the damping of the collective oscillations and for the expansion is established.