Warm Inflation at Arbitrary Adiabaticity - a Model, an Existence Proof for Inflationary Dynamics in Quantum Field Theory

Warm inflation is examined in a multi-field model. Solutions are obtained for expansion e-folds and scalar density perturbations. Nonequilibrium dynamics is restricted to a regime that is displaced only slightly from thermal equilibrium and in which all macroscopic motion is adiabatic. In such a regime, nonequilibrium dynamics is well defined, provided macroscopic motions that displace the thermal equilibrium state occur sufficiently slow. The solution has adjustable parameters that permit observational consistency with respect to expansion e-folds and density perturbations at arbitrary adiabaticity. This insures a valid solution regime. For particle physics, the model is nonstandard since it requires a large number of fields, > 104. A particle physics/string interpretation of the model and solutions is discussed, which can accommodate the large field number requirement. PACS number(s): 98.80 Cq, 05.70.Ln, 11.10.Wx hep-ph/9904409 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Address after October 1, 1999, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Scotland