Related papers: Initial conditions for simulated `tachyonic prehea…
We describe a Hartree ensemble method to approximately solve the Heisenberg equations for the \phi^4 model in 1+1 dimensions. We compute the energies and number densities of the quantum particles described by the \phi field and find that…
Using a Hartree ensemble approximation, we investigate the dynamics of the \f^4 model in 1+1 dimensions. We find that the fields initially thermalize with a Bose-Einstein distribution for the fields. Gradually, however, the distribution…
We study thermal behavior of a recently introduced Hartree ensemble approximation, which allows for non-perturbative inhomogeneous field configurations as well as for approximate thermalization, in the $\phi^4$ model in 1+1 dimensions.…
For homogeneous initial conditions, Hartree (gaussian) dynamical approximations are known to have problems with thermalization, because of insufficient scattering. We attempt to improve on this by writing an arbitrary density matrix as a…
We study the process of tachyonic preheating using approximative quantum equations of motion derived from the 2PI effective action. The O(N) scalar (Higgs) field is assumed to experience a fast quench which is represented by an…
Thermalization of classical fields is investigated in a \phi^4 scalar field theory in 1+1 dimensions, discretized on a lattice. We numerically integrate the classical equations of motion using initial conditions sampled from various…
Using an improved version of the Hartree approximation, allowing for ensembles of inhomogeneous configurations, we show in a $\lambda \phi^4$ theory, that initially the system thermalises with a Bose-Einstein distribution. For later times…
We study the dynamics of thermalization and the approach to equilibrium in the classical phi^4 theory in 1+1 spacetime dimensions. At thermal equilibrium we exploit the equivalence between the classical canonical averages and transfer…
Classical-statistical lattice simulations provide a useful approximation to out-of-equilibrium quantum field theory, but only for systems exhibiting large occupation numbers, and only for phenomena that are not intrinsically quantum…
We establish the equivalence between the quantum evolution of spatially homogeneous oscillations of a scalar field and that of an analogous classical system with certain random initial condition. We argue that this observation can be used…
The classical approximation may be applied to a number of problems in non-equilibrium field theory. The principles and limits of classical real-time lattice simulations are presented, with particular emphasis on the definition of particle…
We investigate a new way of using the quantum fluctuations in the vacuum as initial conditions for subsequent classical field dynamics. This method avoids problems with renormalization and leads to better thermalization.
In this Letter, we numerically present the possibility of the first-order phase transition occurring through the thermal fluctuation in the early universe. We find that when the temperature is slightly higher than the mass scale of the…
We study a Hartree ensemble approximation for real-time dynamics in the toy model of 1+1 dimensional scalar field theory. Damping behavior seen in numerical simulations is compared with analytical predictions based on perturbation theory in…
The Hartree ensemble approximation is studied in the ``symmetric phase'' of 1+1 dimensional lambda phi^4 theory. In comparison with the ``broken phase'' studied previously, it is shown that the dynamical evolution of observables such as the…
In certain models of inflation, the postinflationary reheating of the Universe is not primarily due to perturbative decay of the inflaton field into particles, but proceeds through a tachyonic instability. In the process, long-wavelength…
We consider the out-of-equilibrium (quasi-) particle number distributions of the Higgs and W-fields during electroweak tachyonic preheating. We model this process by a fast quench, and perform classical real-time lattice simulations in the…
We investigate the thermodynamics of integrable classical field theories under the effect of a random initial configuration, motivated by the nonequilibrium evolution of quantum field theories. The approach to thermal equilibrium is…
Discrete lattice simulations of an one-dimensional phi^4 theory coupled to an external heat bath are being carried out. Great care is taken to remove the effects of lattice discreteness and finite size and to establish the correct…
I review the theory of preheating after inflation, focusing on the recently found tachyonic preheating in the theories with spontaneous symmetry breaking. This occurs due to the tachyonic instability of the scalar field near the top of its…