Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review

Our understanding of the state of the universe between the end of inflation and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is incomplete. The dynamics at the end of inflation are rich and a potential source of observational signatures. Reheating, the energy transfer between the inflaton and Standard Model field...

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Main Authors: Amin, Mustafa Abdulkader, Hertzberg, Mark Peter, Kaiser, David I., Karouby, Johanna
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: World Scientific Publishing 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96016
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5054-6744
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3850-3688
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author Amin, Mustafa Abdulkader
Hertzberg, Mark Peter
Kaiser, David I.
Karouby, Johanna
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Amin, Mustafa Abdulkader
Hertzberg, Mark Peter
Kaiser, David I.
Karouby, Johanna
author_sort Amin, Mustafa Abdulkader
collection MIT
description Our understanding of the state of the universe between the end of inflation and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is incomplete. The dynamics at the end of inflation are rich and a potential source of observational signatures. Reheating, the energy transfer between the inflaton and Standard Model fields (possibly through intermediaries) and their subsequent thermalization, can provide clues to how inflation fits in with known high-energy physics. We provide an overview of our current understanding of the nonperturbative, nonlinear dynamics at the end of inflation, some salient features of realistic particle physics models of reheating, and how the universe reaches a thermal state before BBN. In addition, we review the analytical and numerical tools available in the literature to study preheating and reheating and discuss potential observational signatures from this fascinating era.
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spelling mit-1721.1/960162022-09-27T18:29:05Z Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review Amin, Mustafa Abdulkader Hertzberg, Mark Peter Kaiser, David I. Karouby, Johanna Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society Hertzberg, Mark Peter Kaiser, David I. Karouby, Johanna Our understanding of the state of the universe between the end of inflation and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is incomplete. The dynamics at the end of inflation are rich and a potential source of observational signatures. Reheating, the energy transfer between the inflaton and Standard Model fields (possibly through intermediaries) and their subsequent thermalization, can provide clues to how inflation fits in with known high-energy physics. We provide an overview of our current understanding of the nonperturbative, nonlinear dynamics at the end of inflation, some salient features of realistic particle physics models of reheating, and how the universe reaches a thermal state before BBN. In addition, we review the analytical and numerical tools available in the literature to study preheating and reheating and discuss potential observational signatures from this fascinating era. Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge United States. Dept. of Energy (Contract Number DE-SC00012567) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics 2015-03-13T18:18:55Z 2015-03-13T18:18:55Z 2015-01 2014-10 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0218-2718 1793-6594 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96016 Amin, Mustafa A., Mark P. Hertzberg, David I. Kaiser, and Johanna Karouby. “Nonperturbative Dynamics of Reheating after Inflation: A Review.” International Journal of Modern Physics D 24, no. 01 (January 2015): 1530003. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5054-6744 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3850-3688 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218271815300037 International Journal of Modern Physics D Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf World Scientific Publishing arXiv
spellingShingle Amin, Mustafa Abdulkader
Hertzberg, Mark Peter
Kaiser, David I.
Karouby, Johanna
Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review
title Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review
title_full Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review
title_fullStr Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review
title_full_unstemmed Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review
title_short Nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation: A review
title_sort nonperturbative dynamics of reheating after inflation a review
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96016
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5054-6744
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3850-3688
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