Orateur
Mathias Pierre
(DESY)
Description
In simple single field models of inflation, an inflaton condensate undergoes an oscillatory phase once inflationary expansion ends. In the presence of self-interactions, the inflaton field is driven into the non-linear regime by the resonant growth of its fluctuations. The once spatially homogeneous coherent inflaton is converted into a collection of inflaton particles with non-vanishing momentum. In this talk I discuss a formalism to quantify the effect of fragmentation on particle production rates and discuss consequences on the ability to successfully achieve the transition into a radiation-dominated universe.
