Two-loop scalar self-mass during inflation
Abstract
We work in the locally de Sitter background of an inflating universe and consider a massless, minimally coupled scalar with a quartic self-interaction. We use dimensional regularization to compute the fully renormalized scalar self-mass-squared at one- and two-loop order for a state which is released in Bunch Davies vacuum at t = 0. Although the field strength and coupling constant renormalizations are identical to those of flat space, the geometry induces a non-zero mass renormalization. The finite part also shows a sort of growing mass that competes with the classical force in eventually turning off this system's super-acceleration.
- Publication:
-
Classical and Quantum Gravity
- Pub Date:
- January 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0264-9381/22/1/005
- arXiv:
- arXiv:gr-qc/0408080
- Bibcode:
- 2005CQGra..22...59B
- Keywords:
-
- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- Astrophysics;
- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
- E-Print:
- 31 pages, 5 figures, revtex4, revised for publication with extended list of references