ELECTRON-ELECTRON INTERACTION IN A NARROW, DISORDERED ELECTRON-GAS INNONEQUILIBRIUM

The dephasing of nonequilibrium electrons by electron-electron interac tion was studied in the diffusive regime. This was done by measuring t he effect of an external bias voltage on weak localization in a quasi- one-dimensional electron gas. We find that electrons not in thermal eq uilibrium lose phase in quantitative agreement with the lifetime theor y for an ideal two-dimensional electron gas. This is in contrast to th ermalized electrons for which Nyquist phase breaking is most important .