Isotropy theorem for cosmological Yang-Mills theories

We consider homogeneous non-Abelian vector fields with general potential terms in an expanding universe. We find a mechanical analogy with a system of N interacting particles (with N the dimension of the gauge group) moving in three dimensions under the action of a central potential. In the case of bounded and rapid evolution compared to the rate of expansion, we show by making use of a generalization of the virial theorem that for an arbitrary potential and polarization pattern, the average energymomentum tensor is always diagonal and isotropic despite the intrinsic anisotropic evolution of the vector field. We consider also the case in which a gauge-fixing term is introduced in the action and show that the average equation of state does not depend on such a term. Finally, we extend the results to arbitrary background geometries and show that the average energy-momentum tensor of a rapidly evolving YangMills field is always isotropic and has the perfect fluid form for any locally inertial observer.