Memory effects and thermodynamics in strong field plasmas - art. no. 117502

We study the evolution of a strong field plasma using a quantum Vlasov equa tion with a non-Markovian source term and a simple collision term, and calc ulate the time dependence of the energy and number density, and the tempera ture. The evolution of a plasma produced with BNL RHIC-like initial conditi ons is well described by a low density approximation to the source term. Ho wever, non-Markovian aspects should be retained to obtain an accurate descr iption of the early stages of a CERN LHC-like plasma.