Quantum mechanics

Engineering

Inflation (cosmology)

Coupling (piping)

Scaling

Statistical physics

Mechanical engineering

Physics

Mathematics

Quantum electrodynamics

Geometry

Quantum

Quantum fluctuation

Thermalisation

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics

Physical Review Letters

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.

Nonthermal Fixed Points: Effective Weak Coupling for Strongly Correlated Systems Far from Equilibrium