Non-perturbative production of matter and rapid thermalization after MSSM inflation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how non-perturbative effects during MSSM inflation lead to rapid matter production and thermalization, efficiently reheating the universe with the observed degrees of freedom.

Contribution

It demonstrates that gauge-invariant sleptons can serve as inflatons, causing efficient energy transfer and thermalization post-inflation through non-perturbative mechanisms.

Findings

Approximately 20% of inflaton energy is transferred each oscillation.

Standard Model particles do not thermalize immediately due to electroweak symmetry breaking.

Thermalization occurs after about 100 oscillations within one Hubble time.

Abstract

A {\it gauge invariant} combination of LLe {\it sleptons} within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is one of the few inflaton candidates that can naturally explain population of the observable sector and creation of matter after inflation. After the end of inflation, the inflaton oscillates coherently about the minimum of its potential, which is a point of {\it enhanced gauged symmetry}. This results in bursts of non-perturbative production of the gauge/gaugino and (s)lepton quanta. The subsequent decay of these quanta is very fast and leads to an extremely efficient transfer of the inflaton energy to (s)quarks via {\it instant} preheating. Around 20% of the inflaton energy density is drained during every inflaton oscillation. However, all of the Standard Model degrees of freedom (and their supersymmetric partners) {\it do not} thermalize immediately, since the large inflaton vacuum expectation value breaks the electroweak symmetry. After about 100 oscillations -- albeit within one Hubble time -- the amplitude of inflaton oscillations becomes sufficiently small, and all of the degrees of freedom will thermalize. This provides by far the most efficient reheating of the universe with the observed degrees of freedom.