Minding one's P's and Q's: From the one loop effective action in quantum field theory to classical transport theory

The one loop effective action in quantum field theory can be expressed as a quantum mechanical path integral over world lines, with internal symmetries represented by Grassmanian variables. In this paper, we develop a real time, many body, world line formalism for the one loop effective action. In particular, we study hot QCD and obtain the classical transport equations which, as Litim and Manuel have shown, reduce in the appropriate limit to the non-Abelian Boltzmann-Langevin equation first obtained by Bödeker. In the Vlasov limit, the classical kinetic equations are those that correspond to the hard thermal loop effective action. We also discuss the imaginary time world line formalism for a hot φ⁴ theory, and elucidate its relation to classical transport theory.