Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 20/03/2000 |
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<mark>Journal</mark> | Nuclear Physics B |
Issue number | 1-2 |
Volume | 570 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Pages (from-to) | 407-422 |
Publication Status | Published |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
In the MSSM, cosmological scalar field condensates formed along flat directions of the scalar potential (Affleck-Dine condensates) are typically unstable with respect to formation of Q-balls, a type of non-topological soliton. We consider the dynamical evolution of the Affleck-Dine condensate in the MSSM. We discuss the creation and linear growth, in F- and D-term inflation models, of the quantum seed perturbations which in the non-linear regime catalyse the collapse of the condensate to non-topological soliton lumps. We study numerically the evolution of the collapsing condensate lumps and show that the solitons initially formed are not in general Q-balls, but Q-axitons, a pseudo-breather which can have very different properties from Q-balls of the same charge. We calculate the energy and charge radiated from st spherically symmetric condensate lump as it evolves into a Q-axiton. We also discuss the implications for baryogenesis and dark matter. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B,V. All rights reserved.