  The Altarelli-Parisi-Lipatov equations for the parton distribution functions
are rederived using the dynamical renormalization group approach to quantum
kinetics. This method systematically treats the ln Q^2 corrections that arises
in perturbation theory as a renormalization of the parton distribution function
and unambiguously indicates that the strong coupling must be allowed to run
with the scale in the evolution kernel. To leading logarithmic accuracy the
evolution equation is Markovian and the logarithmic divergences in the
perturbative expansion are identified with the secular divergences (terms that
grow in time) that emerge in a perturbative treatment of the kinetic equations
in nonequilibrium systems. The resummation of the leading logarithms by the
Altarelli-Parisi-Lipatov equation is thus similar to the resummation of the
leading secular terms by the Boltzmann kinetic equation.
