Preheating with Non-Minimal Kinetic Terms

TL;DR

This paper presents the first 3+1D numerical simulations of scalar fields with non-minimal kinetic terms, demonstrating efficient preheating via parametric resonance in a DBI inflaton model.

Contribution

It introduces the first full non-linear 3+1D simulations of non-minimal kinetic scalar fields, specifically analyzing preheating with a DBI inflaton coupled to matter.

Findings

Preheating occurs efficiently with parametric resonance.

Self-resonance in the inflaton contributes to particle production.

Results match traditional preheating efficiency.

Abstract

We present the first 3+1-dimensional numerical simulations of scalar fields with non-minimal kinetic terms. As an example, we examine the existence and stability of preheating in the presence of a Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflaton coupled to a canonical matter field. The simulations represent the full non-linear theory in the presence of an expanding Universe. We show that parametric resonance in the matter field, along with self-resonance in the inflaton, repopulate the Universe with matter particles as efficiently as in traditional preheating.