Thermalization of nonequilibrium electron-positron-photon plasmas

Starting from a nonequilibrium configuration we analyze the role of the direct and the inverse binary and triple interactions in reaching thermal equilibrium in a homogeneous isotropic pair plasma. We focus on energies in the range 0.1-10 MeV. We numerically integrate the relativistic Boltzmann equa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2007-09, Vol.99 (12), p.125003-125003, Article 125003
Main Authors: Aksenov, A G, Ruffini, R, Vereshchagin, G V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTROPHYSICS
BALANCES
BOLTZMANN EQUATION
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMOLOGY
ELECTRONS
INTERACTIONS
KEV RANGE 100-1000
MEV RANGE 01-10
PHOTONS
PLASMA
POSITRONS
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM
THERMALIZATION
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Summary:Starting from a nonequilibrium configuration we analyze the role of the direct and the inverse binary and triple interactions in reaching thermal equilibrium in a homogeneous isotropic pair plasma. We focus on energies in the range 0.1-10 MeV. We numerically integrate the relativistic Boltzmann equation with the exact QED collisional integrals taking into account all binary and triple interactions. We show that first, when a detailed balance is reached for all binary interactions on a time scale t(k) < or approximately 10(-14) sec, photons and electron-positron pairs establish kinetic equilibrium. Subsequently, when triple interactions satisfy the detailed balance on a time scale t(eq) < or approximately 10(-12) sec, the plasma reaches thermal equilibrium. It is shown that neglecting the inverse triple interactions prevents reaching thermal equilibrium. Our results obtained in the theoretical physics domain also find application in astrophysics and cosmology.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.99.125003