Event Details

Theoretical considerations suggests that the early universe is likely filled with a large number of interacting fields with unknown interactions. Yet, the observations reveal a surprisingly simple early universe. Could simplicity/universality emerge from the the underlying dynamical complexity? How can we quantitatively understand particle production during inflation and reheating after inflation in such complicated scenarios? Based on a precise mapping between particle production in cosmology to resistivity in disordered quasi one-dimensional wires, I provide a powerful statistical framework to resolve such seemingly intractable calculations. A number of phenomenon in disordered wires find an analogue in particle production. For example, Anderson localization in quasi one-dimensional wires can be directly mapped to exponential particle production in the early universe. I will discuss possible applications to calculating observables from inflation and particle production during reheating after inflation.

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