Entropy production in inflation from spectator loops

by Tomislav Prokopec (Utrecht University)

Tuesday 17 Dec 2019, 13:00 → 14:00 Europe/Brussels

E/3rd floor-E.349 - Seminar room (E.349) (Marc de Hemptinne (chemin du Cyclotron, 2, Louvain-la-Neuve))

After introducing the concepts of decoherence and entropy in simple quantum mechanical and field theoretical systems, I will discuss how to apply them in the cosmological setting of inflation. The model I will consider is a simple two field inflationary model, in which the inflaton couples to a spectator field. I will then show how the cubic interaction at the one loop level decoheres the inflaton field, and thus also the curvature perturbation. Finally, I will discuss under which  conditions the effects of inflationary interactions can be observed in  the cosmic microwave background radiation.