Pair creation: Back reactions and damping - art. no. 116011

We solve the quantum Vlasov equation for fermions and bosons, incorporating spontaneous pair creation in the presence of back reactions and collisions . Pair creation is initiated by an external impulse field and the source te rm is non-Markovian. A simultaneous solution of Maxwell's equation in the p resence of feedback yields an internal current and electric field that exhi bit plasma oscillations with a period tau(pl). Allowing for collisions, the se oscillations are damped on a time scale tau(r) determined by the collisi on frequency. Plasma oscillations cannot affect the early stages of the for mation of a quark-gluon plasma unless tau(r)much greater than tau(pl) and t au(pl) similar to 1/Lambda(QCD)similar to 1 fm/c. [S0556-2821(99)06123-8].