title: Nonthermal fixed points: effective weak coupling for strongly correlated systems far from equilibrium.
abstract: Strongly correlated systems far from equilibrium can exhibit scaling solutions with a dynamically generated weak coupling. We show this by investigating isolated systems described by relativistic quantum field theories for initial conditions leading to nonequilibrium instabilities, such as parametric resonance or spinodal decomposition. The nonthermal fixed points prevent fast thermalization if classical-statistical fluctuations dominate over quantum fluctuations. We comment on the possible significance of these results for the heating of the early Universe after inflation and the question of fast thermalization in heavy-ion collision experiments.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Nuclear Physics, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schlossgartenstr. 9, 64285 Darmstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berges
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rothkopf
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidt