  The non-abelian Landau-Pomeranschuk-Migdal (LPM) effect arises from the
quantum interference between spatially separated, inelastic radiation processes
in matter. A consistent probabilistic implementation of this LPM effect is a
prerequisite for extending the use of Monte Carlo (MC) event generators to the
simulation of jet-like multi-particle final states in nuclear collisions. Here,
we propose a local MC algorithm, which is based solely on relating the LPM
effect to the probabilistic concept of formation time for virtual quanta. We
demonstrate that this implementation of formation time physics alone accounts
probabilistically for all analytically known features of the non-abelian
LPM-effect, including the characteristic L^2-dependence of average parton
energy loss and the characteristic $\sqrt{\omega}$-modification of the gluon
energy distribution. Additional kinematic constraints are found to modify these
L^2- and $\omega$-dependencies characteristically in accordance with analytical
estimates.
