Speaker
Description
I will present a complete characterization of the equation of state from the end of inflation until perturbative reheating, when an inflaton with quadratic potential is coupled to a daughter field through both trilinear and scale-free interactions. By simulating the dynamics in 2+1-dimensional lattices, we track the evolution of the equation of state for up to 10 e-folds of expansion, with the later evolution being resolved through a Boltzmann approach. Our results show that, despite the daughter field experiencing an initial tachyonic excitation, the equation of state never reaches w=1/3 before perturbative reheating, independently of the coupling strengths. I will discuss the implications of our results for the GW spectrum from preheating observed today, as well as for theoretical predictions of inflationary CMB observables.
