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Nonperturbative dynamics of quantum fields out of equilibrium is often described by the time evolution of a hierarchy of correlation functions, using approximation methods such as Hartree, large N, and nPI-effective action techniques. These…
We study the dynamics of a spatially inhomogeneous quantum $\lambda \phi^4$ field theory in 1+1 dimensions in the Hartree approximation. In particular, we investigate the long-time behavior of this approximation in a variety of controlled…
A time dependent variational approach is considered to derive the equations of movement for the $\lambda \phi^4$ model. The temporal evolution of the model is performed numerically in the frame of the Gaussian approximation in a lattice of…
The semiclassical approximation has frequently been used to describe the initial stage of particle production, often called preheating, which occurs after the inflationary epoch in chaotic models of inflation. During this phase backreaction…
We establish an analytical criterion for dynamical thermalization within harmonic systems, applicable to both classical and quantum models. Specifically, we prove that thermalization of various observables, such as particle energies in…
We study time dependent correlation functions in hot quantum and classical field theory for the $\lambda\phi^4$ case. We set up the classical analogue of thermal field theory and make a direct comparison between the quantum and classical…
We perform a detailed numerical investigation of the dynamics of broken symmetry $\lambda \phi^4$ field theory in 1+1 dimensions using a Schwinger-Dyson equation truncation scheme based on ignoring vertex corrections. In an earlier paper,…
The topological defects of the lambda phi^4 theory, kink and antikink, are studied in the Hartree approximation. This allows us to discuss quantum effects on the defects in both stationary and dynamical systems. The kink mass is calculated…
We analyze the phenomenon of preheating,i.e. explosive particle production due to parametric amplification of quantum fluctuations in the unbroken case, or spinodal instabilities in the broken phase, using the Minkowski space $O(N)$ vector…
Focusing on isolated macroscopic systems, described either in terms of a quantum mechanical or a classical model, our two key questions are: In how far does an initial ensemble (usually far from equilibrium and largely unknown in detail)…
Theories with purely virtual particles (fakeons) do not possess a classical action in the strict sense, but rather a "classicized" one, obtained by integrating out the fake particles at tree level. Although this procedure generates nonlocal…
We calculate the far-from-equilibrium dynamics and thermalization both for the quantum and the classical O(N)--model. The early and late-time behavior can be described from the 2PI--loop expansion for weak couplings or the nonperturbative…
We consider quenches of a quantum system that is prepared in a canonical equilibrium state of one Hamiltonian and then evolves unitarily in time under a different Hamiltonian. Technically, our main result is a systematic expansion of the…
The usual paradigm of open quantum systems falls short when the environment is actually coupled to additional fields or components that drive it out of equilibrium. Here we explore the simplest such scenario, by considering a two level…
We derive the equation of state for hot nuclear matter using Walecka model in a nonperturbative formalism. We include here the vacuum polarisation effects arising from the nucleon and scalar mesons through a realignment of the vacuum. A…
Calculations of nonequilibrium processes become increasingly feasable in quantum field theory from first principles. There has been important progress in our analytical understanding based on 2PI generating functionals. In addition, for the…
Particle production and its effects on the inflaton field are investigated during the preheating phase of chaotic inflation using a model consisting of a massive scalar inflaton field coupled to N massless quantum scalar fields. The effects…
Thermalisation of configurations with initial white noise power spectrum is studied in numerical simulations of a classical one-component $\Phi^4$ theory in 2+1 dimensions, coupled to a small amplitude homogenous external field. The study…
The statistics of heat exchange between two classical or quantum finite systems initially prepared at different temperatures are shown to obey a fluctuation theorem.
In many theories of reheating starting from the classical spatially homogeneous inflaton field, its accompanying inhomogeneous part (which arises from primordial quantum fluctuations) is treated as a first order perturbation. We examine…