Entropy Production in the Inflationary Epoch Using the Gouy-Stodola Theorem

TL;DR

This paper applies the Gouy-Stodola theorem to compute entropy production during the universe's inflationary epoch, linking scalar field decay to entropy generation with results consistent with existing literature.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the Gouy-Stodola theorem to cosmology, specifically to quantify entropy production during inflation.

Findings

Entropy and entropy production rate are large during inflation.

Results align with established literature values.

Method provides a simple way to calculate entropy in cosmological models.

Abstract

In this work, we use the Gouy-Stodola theorem to calculate the entropy production rate in the inflationary epoch of the universe. This theorem allows us the simple calculation of entropy and entropy production rate occasioned by the decaying of the inflaton scalar field. Both the entropy and entropy production rate achieve large values, agreeing with the expected values present in the literature.