Diagrammatic algorithm for evaluating finite-temperature reaction rates

In this paper, by following the procedure of statistical mechanics we present the systematic calculational rules for evaluating the reaction rate of a generic dynamical process taking place in a heat bath. These rules are formulated within the framework of real-time thermal field theory (RTFT), in terms of the Feynman-like diagrams, the so-called circled diagrams. With the machinery developed in this paper we can establish the finite temperature generalization of the Cutkosky, or the cutting rules in quantum field theory at zero temperature. We have also studied the relation between the imaginary part of forward RTFT amplitude and the reaction rates; the imaginary part consists of various reaction rates. This is a finite temperature generalization of the optical theorem.