Preheating in multifield inflation
Name
963848214-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
5.16 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
13535879950f1d7f697932f70d773881
Author(s)
Prabhu, Anirudh, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor(s)
David Kaiser.
Date Issued
2016
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The theory of cosmic inflation was proposed to address problems with Standard Big Bang cosmology. The theory suggests the existence of an epoch during which the universe underwent an exponential expansion, followed by an epoch of slower expansion. Realistic models of high-energy physics require multiple scalar fields. Renormalization of these fields in curved space-time requires these fields to be nonminimally coupled to the space-time Ricci scalar. These couplings induce a nontrivial field-space manifold when we move from the Jordan frame to the Einstein frame. In the Einstein frame, the potential becomes asymptotically flat, leading to ridges and valleys in field-space. The existence of these ridges and valleys results in a strong single-field attractor behavior of the fields. We study preheating in multifield models of inflation with nonminimal couplings. In this phase, we find an efficient transfer of energy from the oscillating background fields to the coupled fluctuations. We identify features of preheating that are not present in the minimally coupled case. In particular, we observe how the Fourier structure of the background field oscillations changes as the value of the dimensionless non-minimal coupling, [zeta]1 changes. We also observe how the resonance structure of perturbations changes as we tune [zeta]1.
Description
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 81-83).
Subjects
Physics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Terms of Use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Persistent DSpace Link
