Expansion, thermalization, and entropy production in high-energy nuclear collisions

The thermalization process is studied in an expanding parton gas using the Boltzmann equation with two types of collision terms. In the relaxation time approximation we determine the criteria under which a time-dependent relaxation time leads to thermalization of the partons. We calculate the entropy production due to collisions for the general time-dependent relaxation time. In a perturbative QCD approach on the other hand, we can, given the initial conditions, estimate the effective relaxation time due to elastic collisions; this will be an upper limit only since radiative processes will also contribute to thermalization. We find that the parton gas does thermalize eventually but only after having undergone a phase of free streaming and gradual equilibration where considerable entropy is produced (''after burning''). The final entropy and thus particle density depends on the collision time as well as the initial conditions (a ''memory effect''). Results for entropy production are presented based upon various model estimates of early parton production.