SHORT-TIME DYNAMICS OF CORRELATED MANY-PARTICLE SYSTEMS - MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS VERSUS QUANTUM KINETICS

Ultrafast relaxation and correlation buildup in an N-particle system c an be described theoretically using two completely different methods: mechanical equations of motion (molecular dynamics) and quantum-statis tical models (Kadanoff-Baym equations). We propose to perform detailed quantitative comparisons of the two methods to obtain a powerful and unbiased tool for testing different approximations. Results of such co mparison are presented for a weakly coupled electron gas, which show r emarkable agreement.