An overview of the transport theory of charged particles

A unified description of the transport theory for charged particles including electrons, ions and atoms has been formulated and is presented. The main content of the paper includes: the Boltzmann equation and its different approximations, the theory of electron slowing down spectra, multiple scattering theory, the theory of deep penetration and the theory of secondary particle emission. The scaling properties of the transport of charged particles are also presented. Although some discussion of stochastic (Monte Carlo) methods is included, the main focus of this review is on analytical approaches. Finally, some important unsolved problems in the transport theory for charged particles are discussed. (Author)