  The hydrodynamic expansion rate of quark gluon plasma (QGP) is evaluated and
compared with the scattering rate of quarks and gluons within the system.
Partonic scattering rates evaluated within the ambit of perturbative Quantum
Choromodynamics (pQCD) are found to be smaller than the expansion rate
evaluated with ideal equation of state (EoS) for the QGP. This indicate that
during the space-time evolution the system remains out of equilibrium.
Enhancement of pQCD cross sections and a more realistic EoS keep the partons
closer to the equilibrium.
