The Hartree ensemble approximation revisited: The "symmetric phase"

The Hartree ensemble approximation is studied in the ``symmetric phase'' of 1+1 dimensional lambda phi^4 theory. In comparison with the ``broken phase'' studied previously, it is shown that the dynamical evolution of observables such as the particle distribution, energy exchange and auto-correlation functions, is substantially slower. Approximate thermalization is found only for relatively large energy densities and couplings.