It is shown that B B Kadomtsev’s idea of small ’external noise’ securing a time-irreversible evolution reduces the justification of statistical physics to a fundamentally new formulation which requires that the dynamics of a multiparticle system be treated by neglecting small acceleration particles. It turns out that this formulation not only leads naturally to irreversible evolution but also suggests a new way of constructing kinetic equations capable of correctly accounting for fluctuations. At the early, small-time, stage of evolution, the original correlations are forgotten and ’post-collisional’ ones form. It is the final portion of the first stage and the formation of the ’post-collisional’ correlations which can be described by a closed form kinetic equation. A relation between Kadomtsev’s external noise idea and Bogolyubov’s derivation of kinetic equations is established, leading to a new physical interpretation of the ’molecular chaos’ hypothesis.

PACS: 03.65.−w, 03.65.Bz, 05.40.−a, 05.45.−a (all) DOI: 10.1070/PU1999v042n06ABEH000479 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/1999/6/e/ 000081542900005 Citation: Gordienko S N "Irreversibility and the probabilistic treatment of the dynamics of classical particles" Phys. Usp. 42 573–590 (1999) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Гордиенко С Н «Необратимость и вероятностное описание динамики классических частиц.» УФН 169 653–672 (1999); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0169.199906e.0653