Title: NONEQUILIBRIUM ACTION PRINCIPLES FOR QUASI-FIELDS
Author(s): M.Burgess (Oslo College, Cort Adelers gate 30, 0254 Oslo, Norway)

Quasiparticle descriptions of nonequilibrium physics hold the promise of tracking the relevant degrees of freedom in calculations of statistical systems, as well as providing an important formal perspective on quantum field theories away from equilibrium. A formulation of nonequilibrium, quasi-particle field theory is presented here. The Schwinger closed time path generating functional and generalized sources are used to develop schematic field theories which can be adapted to real problems. The importance of the source method for effective nonequilibrium theories is argued and the physical interpretation of the formalism is discussed, including its possible applicability to biological dynamics.

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