The equation arises not by analyzing the individual positions and momenta of each particle in the fluid but rather by considering a probability distribution for the position and momentum of a typical particle—that is, the probability that the particle occupies a given very small region of space (mathematically the volume element <math>\mathrm{d}^3 \bf{r}</math>) centered at the position <math>\bf{r}</math>, and has momentum nearly equal to a given momentum vector <math> \bf{p}</math> (thus occupying a very small region of momentum space <math>\mathrm{d}^3 \bf{p}</math>), at an instant of time. | The equation arises not by analyzing the individual positions and momenta of each particle in the fluid but rather by considering a probability distribution for the position and momentum of a typical particle—that is, the probability that the particle occupies a given very small region of space (mathematically the volume element <math>\mathrm{d}^3 \bf{r}</math>) centered at the position <math>\bf{r}</math>, and has momentum nearly equal to a given momentum vector <math> \bf{p}</math> (thus occupying a very small region of momentum space <math>\mathrm{d}^3 \bf{p}</math>), at an instant of time. |