2002/06/26 by Kari Enqvist, Shinta Kasuya, Anupam Mazumdar · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.66.043505
published as Phys.Rev. D66 (2002) 043505 · 13 pages, RevTeX, 12 postscript figures included
arxiv created 2002/06/26 · openalex publication_date 2002/08/09 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The inflaton condensate associated with a global symmetry can fragment into quasistable Q balls, provided the inflaton oscillations give rise to an effective equation of state with negative pressure. We study chaotic inflation with a running inflaton mass and show that, depending on the sign of the radiative mass correction, the process of fragmentation into inflatonic Q balls can actually take place even though no net charge exists. If the main decay channel of the Q ball is to fermions, the universe will be reheated slowly via surface evaporation.