EXPANSION AFTER INFLATION AND REHEATING WITH A CHARGED INFLATON
type: CreativeWork
description: Within the inflationary paradigm, our patch of the universe near the end of inflation is highly homogeneous and isotropic as necessitated by cosmic microwave background observations. This patch, however, is also in a cold and non-thermal state. A successful model of an inflationary primordial universe should account for how the universe transitioned from an inflationary to a radiation-dominated, hot, thermal phase required for the production of light elements via big-bang nucleosynthesis. It is desirable for such a model also to include a mechanism for the generation of the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry and perhaps a primordial mechanism for the generation of cosmic magnetic fields. The transition from an inflationary to a radiation-dominated, thermal phase (reheating) is likely to be phenomenologically rich. Reheating could include explosive particle production and various other non-perturbative, non-linear and non-equilibrium phenomena. Reheating can leave its own observational signatures in the form of gravitational waves and non-Gaussianities. Importantly, reheating can also affect the observational predictions of the preceding phase of inflation. Reheating remains an active field of research, with significant gaps in our understanding of the process. This thesis is an attempt to improve our understanding of the period following inflation, including reheating, through an exploration and analysis of realistic post-inflationary models with the aid of detailed numerical simulations. The focus of the studies is on aspects of the models with potential observational implications. In Part I of this thesis, we provide an overview of inflation and its end, concentrating on our current understanding of reheating and the challenges we face in trying to constrain reheating observationally. In Part II, we consider the post-inflationary expansion history in a broad class of observationally-favoured single-field models of inflation. Generally, the ambiguity in the expan…
abstract: Within the inflationary paradigm, our patch of the universe near the end of inflation is highly homogeneous and isotropic as necessitated by cosmic microwave background observations. This patch, however, is also in a cold and non-thermal state. A successful model of an inflationary primordial universe should account for how the universe transitioned from an inflationary to a radiation-dominated, hot, thermal phase required for the production of light elements via big-bang nucleosynthesis. It is desirable for such a model also to include a mechanism for the generation of the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry and perhaps a primordial mechanism for the generation of cosmic magnetic fields. The transition from an inflationary to a radiation-dominated, thermal phase (reheating) is likely to be phenomenologically rich. Reheating could include explosive particle production and various other non-perturbative, non-linear and non-equilibrium phenomena. Reheating can leave its own observational signatures in the form of gravitational waves and non-Gaussianities. Importantly, reheating can also affect the observational predictions of the preceding phase of inflation. Reheating remains an active field of research, with significant gaps in our understanding of the process. This thesis is an attempt to improve our understanding of the period following inflation, including reheating, through an exploration and analysis of realistic post-inflationary models with the aid of detailed numerical simulations. The focus of the studies is on aspects of the models with potential observational implications. In Part I of this thesis, we provide an overview of inflation and its end, concentrating on our current understanding of reheating and the challenges we face in trying to constrain reheating observationally. In Part II, we consider the post-inflationary expansion history in a broad class of observationally-favoured single-field models of inflation. Generally, the ambiguity in the expan…
author: Lozanov, Kaloian Dimitrov
language: en
keywords: Inflation, Reheating, Lattice Field Theory, Cosmology, Astrophysics, High Energy Physics, Baryogenesis, Solitons, Cosmic Microwave Background
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/5290f910-b554-481b-a64e-82e68a0e5916/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2017-10-01
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:17Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.13746