Cosmic Origin of Matter: Nonequilibrium Field Theory and Inflationary Cosmology

目前的观测结果坚定地支持这样一种观点，即早期宇宙经历了一个被称为暴胀的短期指数膨胀。物质的起源可以追溯到这个膨胀时代的结束，当驱动膨胀的原始场将其能量转移到物质场时。这种转移是戏剧性的：它有效地模拟了热大爆炸--据信至少发生在两个阶段，即预热和再加热。这个提议的目标是解决物质的起源以及随着暴胀过渡到热大爆炸模型，物质超过反物质的问题。PI计划详细分析各种模型的预热和再加热阶段的非微扰动力学。.基于这一分析，PI希望提出不同模型的预/再加热的几个观测结果，包括：e折叠的数量或暴胀阶段的功效;净重子数的产生;以及引力波随机背景的产生。这项研究的更广泛影响是，这项提议中涉及的关于宇宙的基本问题引起了广泛的研究小组和公众的极大兴趣。除了培养自己的研究生外，PI还积极通过讲座，书籍和电视纪录片向公众传播科学。PI最近开始与佛蒙特州的蒙特希尔科学博物馆合作，为当地社区组织一系列公开讲座。

Present observations firmly support the notion that the early Universe underwent a short period of exponential) expansion known as inflation. The origin of matter is traced to the end of this inflationary era, when the primordial field that drives inflation transfers its energy into matter fields. This transfer is dramatic: it effectively models the hot Big Bang - and is believed to have occurred in at least two phases, known as preheating and reheating. The goal of this proposal is to address both the origin of matter and its excess over antimatter as inflation transitions into the hot Big Bang model. The PI plans to analyze in detail the nonperturbative dynamics of the preheating and reheating stages for a variety of models. . Based on this analysis, the PI hopes to propose several observational consequences of pre/reheating for different models, including: the number of e-folds or efficacy of the inflationary phase; the generation of net baryon number; and the production of a stochastic background of gravitational waves. The broader impact of the research is that the fundamental questions about the Universe addressed in this proposal are of great interest to wide ranging research groups and to the general public.. Apart from training his own graduate students, the PI is actively engaged in disseminating science to the general public through lectures, books, and TV documentaries. The PI has recently started a collaboration with Vermont's Montshire Museum of Science, to organize a series of public lectures to the local community.