http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.2019
We present a novel method to solve the spatially homogeneous and isotropic relativistic Boltzmann equation. We employ a basis set of orthogonal polynomials dynamically adapted to allow emergence of chemical non-equilibrium. Two time dependent parameters characterize the set of orthogonal polynomials, the effective temperature $T(t)$ and phase space occupation factor $\Upsilon(t)$. In this first paper we address (effectively) massless fermions and derive dynamical equations for $T(t)$ and $\Upsilon(t)$ such that the zeroth order term of the basis alone captures the number density and energy density of each particle distribution. We validate our method and illustrate the reduced computational cost and the ability to represent final state chemical non-equilibrium by studying a model problem that is motivated by the physics of the neutrino freeze-out processes in the early Universe, where the essential physical characteristics include reheating from another disappearing particle component ($e^\pm$-annihilation).
J. Birrell and J. Rafelski
Tue, 11 Mar 14
22/66