Dynamics of classical many-body systems

In Part 1 we discuss the present state of the theory of the propagation of small amplitude disturbances in monatomic gases and plasmas. The analysis is based on kinetic equations for one-particle velocity distributions involving self-consistent field forces and Boltzmann-like collision terms. In Part 2 a microscopic formulation of the classical N-body problem is developed. The theory is used to analyse the meaning of earlier microscopic approaches, and carried to the point where the problem of Part 1 can be treated in a more fundamental way.