Dilepton emission from an equilibrating non-abelian plasma

We study dilepton production from a thermally equilibrating quark-gluon pla sma expected to be formed in ultra relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The p re-equilibrium dynamics of quark-gluon plasma is studied within the color f lux-tube model by solving non-abelian relativistic transport equations. Thi s dilepton rate crucially depends on the collision time of the plasma. The results are compared with the Drell-Yan productions. We suggest that a meas urement of this rate at RHIC and LHC will determine the initial field energ y density. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.