Dynamical System Analysis for Inflation with Dissipation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamics of inflationary cosmology with dissipation, revealing complex behaviors and showing that even minimal dissipation can facilitate a smooth transition from inflation to radiation.

Contribution

It introduces a dynamical system framework for inflation with dissipation and demonstrates the significant impact of small dissipative effects on inflationary evolution.

Findings

Dissipative effects lead to rich solution behaviors in inflation models.

Minimal dissipation (~10^{-7} H) can enable smooth exit from inflation.

Dissipation influences the generality and robustness of inflationary solutions.

Abstract

We examine the solutions of the equations of motion for an expanding Universe, taking into account the radiation of the inflaton field energy. We then analyze the question of the generality of inflationary solutions in this more general setting of a dissipative system. We find a surprisingly rich behavior for the solutions of the dynamical system of equations in the presence of dissipational effects. We also determine that a value of dissipation as small as $\sim 10^{-7} H$ can lead to a smooth exit from inflation to radiation.