Hubble-induced phase transitions: Walls are not forever

From MaRDI portal
Publication:5067787




Abstract: The interplay between non-minimally coupled scalar fields and a kinetic-dominated era following the end of inflation triggers the spontaneous symmetry breaking of internal symmetries and the subsequent evolution of the fields towards large expectation values. We present here a detailed analysis of the associated dynamics in quintessential inflation scenarios involving a non-minimally coupled Z2-symmetric spectator field. By analytically following the evolution of the spectator field fluctuations at early times, we characterize the formation of classical, homogeneous and spatially-localized field configurations separated by domain walls. The life expectancy of these dividing barriers is set by the scale of inflation, the non-minimal coupling and self-interactions of the spectator field and potentially, but not necessarily, the duration of the heating stage. For most of the parameter space, the domain walls are doomed to disappear before big bang nucleosynthesis. Potential phenomenological consequences of the scenario are discussed.









This page was built for publication: Hubble-induced phase transitions: Walls are not forever

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q5067787)