title: Strong coupling isotropization of non-abelian plasmas simplified.
abstract: We study the isotropization of a homogeneous, strongly coupled, non-abelian plasma by means of its gravity dual. We compare the time evolution of a large number of initially anisotropic states as determined, on the one hand, by the full nonlinear Einstein's equations and, on the other, by the Einstein's equations linearized around the final equilibrium state. The linear approximation works remarkably well even for states that exhibit large anisotropies. For example, it predicts with a 20% accuracy the isotropization time, which is of the order of t(iso)≲1/T, with T the final equilibrium temperature. We comment on possible extensions to less symmetric situations.
authors.affiliation: Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam Science Park 904, 1090 GL Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michal P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mateos
authors.forename: Wilke
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van der Schee
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trancanelli