SUSY Flat Direction Decay - the prospect of particle production and preheating investigated in the unitary gauge

TL;DR

This paper investigates non-perturbative particle production from SUSY flat directions after inflation, finding that certain directions can lead to preheating, which impacts the thermalisation process of the universe.

Contribution

It analyzes specific SUSY flat directions and their potential for particle production, highlighting conditions under which preheating can occur or be suppressed.

Findings

$LLE^c$ and $U^cD^cD^c$ directions do not produce particles.

$QLQLQLE^c$ directions can produce particles and cause preheating.

Simultaneous $LLE^c$ and $QLD^c$ directions can also lead to particle production.

Abstract

We look at the possibility of non-perturbative particle production after inflation from SUSY flat directions produced by rotating eigenstates thereby avoiding the standard adiabaticity conditions. This might lead to preheating and prevent the delay of thermalisation of the universe. We investigate the flat directions $LLE^c$ and $U^cD^cD^c$ and find no particle production. These 2 directions are very important, since they have been named as possible candidates for being the inflaton. We investigate $QLQLQLE^c$ and find particle production and therefore the possibility of preheating. We investigate the $LLE^c$ and $U^cD^cD^c$ directions appearing simultaneously, and find no production. Finally, we investigate $LLE^c$ and $QLD^c$ simultaneously - with one L-field in common. Here we do find particle production and therefore the possibility of preheating. This means that if SUSY flat directions are to delay thermalisation and thus explain the (lack of) gravitino production, it is necessary to explain why complicated directions as $QLQLQLE^c$ are not exited, and why combinations like $LLE^c$ and $QLD^c$ are not both exited.