Thermal photon production rate from non-equilibrium quantum field theory

Abstract

In the framework of closed time path thermal field theory we investigate the production rate of hard thermal photons from a QCD plasma away from equilibrium. Dynamical screening provides a finite rate for chemically non-equilibrated distributions of quarks and gluons just as it does in the equilibrium situation. Pinch singularities are shown to be absent in the real photon rate even away from equilibrium.