Journal of Statistical Physics, VoL 80, Nos. 5/6, 1995. p. 1085-1117.
An important property of the classical Boltzmann equation is that kinetic energy is conserved. This is closely connected to the fact that the Boltzmann equation describes the nonequilibrium properties of an "ideal" gas. Generalizations of the Boltzmann equation to higher density involve, among other things, allowing the colliding particles to be at different positions. This spatial nonlocality is known to contribute to the density corrections of gas transport properties. For soft potentials such a spatial separation of the particles also leads to a conversion between kinetic and potential energy. In evaluating these effects the classical dynamics of the whole collision trajectory must be taken into account, involving also the time for the collision process. The resulting time nonlocality has usually been reinterpreted in terms of a spatial nonlocality. However, for a homogeneous system this is not possible and only the time nonlocality remains, this then being responsible for the conversion between kinetic and potential energy. This paper aims to clarify these properties of the nonlocal corrections to the classical mechanical Boltzmann collision term. Comments on the corresponding problem for the quantum Boltzmann equation are also made.