Speaker
Description
The dynamics of a cosmological first order phase transition are governed by the interactions of a scalar field, which tunnels to a new vacuum state and results in the nucleation of bubbles. If the interactions of the scalar field with the plasma are sufficiently weak, instant reheating can not be assumed and the energy density of the universe is dominated by the field oscillations after the phase transition. It is commonly assumed that such a scenario would lead to a phase of matter domination. In this talk, I will revisit this assumption using results from lattice simulations, in which we investigate the energy budget of the scalar field dynamics and determine the equation of state of the system after the phase transition. These findings have relevant implications for the subsequent reheating and dark matter production.
