In plasma physics, the distribution function for a particle species , , takes the place of the probability density function. The corresponding Boltzmann equation is given by
where the third term includes the particle acceleration due to the Lorentz force and the Fokker–Planck term at the right-hand side represents the effects of particle collisions. The quantities  and  are the average change in velocity a particle of type  experiences due to collisions with all other particle species in unit time. Expressions for these quantities are given elsewhere. If collisions are ignored, the Boltzmann equation reduces to the Vlasov equation.