Workshop on Particle Production and Thermal Effects in Inflation

Session

Theory of Particle Production

5 Feb 2024, 10:05

Virtual @ King's College London

1. A dynamical inflaton coupled to strongly interacting matter

Dr Wilke Van Der Schee (CERN)

05/02/2024, 10:05

In talk I will show how to self-consistently couple the Einstein-inflaton equations to a strongly coupled quantum field theory (QFT) as described by holography. We show that this can lead to an inflating universe, a reheating phase and finally a universe dominated by the QFT in thermal equilibrium. Special attention will be given to technical details that could be of relevance for modelling of...

2. Axion Inflation in the Strong-Backreaction Regime: Decay of the Anber–Sorbo Solution

Richard von Eckardstein (Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Münster)

05/02/2024, 10:55

Axion inflation coupled to Abelian gauge fields via a Chern-Simons-like term presents an attractive inflationary model with rich phenomenology, including the production of magnetic fields, black holes, gravitational waves, and possible links to the matter-antimatter asymmetry. In my talk, I will discuss a particular regime of axion inflation, the so-called Anber-Sorbo solution. In this...

3. Vector dark matter production during inflation and reheating

Jose A. R. Cembranos (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

05/02/2024, 11:45

Gravitational particle production of spectator fields due to the expansion universe during the inflationary and reheating phases of the early universe is of particular interest in the context of dark matter, since it allows to constrain the properties of the dark candidate by comparing the density of particles produced with the observed dark matter abundance. In such processes, tachyonic...

4. Perturbatively including inhomogeneities in axion inflation

Yohei Ema

05/02/2024, 14:00

Axion inflation, i.e. an axion-like inflaton coupled to an Abelian gauge field through a Chern-Simons interaction, comes with a rich and testable phenomenology. This is particularly true in the strong backreaction regime, where the gauge field production heavily impacts the axion dynamics. Lattice simulations have recently demonstrated the importance of accounting for inhomogeneities of the...

5. Making massive spin-2 particles from gravity during and after inflation

Andrew Long (Rice University)

05/02/2024, 14:50

The phenomenon of cosmological gravitational particle production (CGPP) occurs during and after inflation as quantum fields “feel” the cosmological expansion are excited out of their ground state. CGPP is a compelling and minimal explanation for the origin of dark matter, which might only interact gravitationally, as well as other cosmological relics. In this talk, I’ll provide a general...

18. Future of Particle Production in Inflation

Lorenzo Sorbo (Massachusetts U., Amherst.)

05/02/2024, 15:40

This session will be a guided discussion led by Lorenzo Sorbo. He will start with a visionary talk. Following this, he will engage the audience by posing stimulating questions to stimulate further