NONEQUILIBRIUM PROCESSES IN KAON CONDENSATION

Relaxation in a kaon condensate proceeds through nonequilibrium weak r eactions, which includes the kaon-induced Urea and the modified Urea r eactions. The kinetics of a K- condensate is considered semiclassicall y starting from a small seed of a condensate with the assumption that the system is in thermal equilibrium. It is shown that the temporal ev olution to the K--condensed phase in the kinetic regime is divided int o several characteristic time intervals as a result of the interplay b etween the two major weak processes. The implications for the dynamica l evolution of newly-born neutron stars are briefly discussed.