Thermal History of the Universe After Inflation

TL;DR

This paper reviews the universe's thermalization after inflation, its implications for dark matter and structure formation, and introduces a new approach to inflationary reheating using Effective Field Theory methods.

Contribution

It provides an updated review of thermalization timing and proposes a novel EFT-based framework for studying inflationary reheating.

Findings

Clarifies the importance of thermalization timing for cosmological models

Introduces a new EFT approach to inflationary reheating

Discusses implications for dark matter and large-scale structure

Abstract

When did the universe thermalize? In this talk I review the status of this issue and its importance in establishing the expected properties of dark matter, the growth of large-scale structure, and the viability of inflation models when confronted with CMB observations. I also present a novel approach to tackling the theoretical challenges surrounding inflationary (p)reheating, which seeks to extend past work on the Effective Field Theory of Inflation to the time of reheating.