Effects of thermal fluctuations on thermal inflation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how thermal fluctuations influence thermal inflation, finding that they do not disrupt the inflationary process but affect the nature of the phase transition at its end.

Contribution

The study provides a numerical analysis of thermal fluctuations in thermal inflation, revealing their impact on phase transition dynamics without destroying the inflationary scenario.

Findings

Thermal fluctuations do not ruin thermal inflation.

Phase transition proceeds via phase mixing, not bubble formation.

No significant gravitational waves are produced during the transition.

Abstract

The mechanism of thermal inflation, a relatively short period of accelerated expansion after primordial inflation, is a desirable ingredient for a certain class of particle physics models if they are not to be in contention with the cosmology of the early Universe. Though thermal inflation is most simply described in terms of a thermal effective potential, a thermal environment also gives rise to thermal fluctuations that must be taken into account. We numerically study the effects of these thermal fluctuations using lattice simulations. We conclude that though they do not ruin the thermal inflation scenario, the phase transition at the end of thermal inflation proceeds through phase mixing and is therefore not accompanied by the formations of bubbles nor appreciable amplitude of gravitational waves.