Dissipative effects on reheating after inflation

Journal Article · Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2013/03/002· OSTI ID:22282940

Mukaida, Kyohei; Nakayama, Kazunori ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

The inflaton must convert its energy into radiation after inflation, which, in a conventional scenario, is caused by the perturbative inflaton decay. This reheating process would be much more complicated in some cases: the decay products obtain masses from an oscillating inflaton and thermal environment, and hence the conventional reheating scenario can be modified. We study in detail processes of particle production from the inflaton, their subsequent thermalization and evolution of inflaton/plasma system by taking dissipation of the inflaton in a hot plasma into account. It is shown that the reheating temperature is significantly affected by these effects.

• OSTI ID: 22282940
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2013, Issue 03; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
DECAY
EVOLUTION
INFLATIONARY UNIVERSE
INFLATONS
MASS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
THERMALIZATION