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Two Loop Scalar Self-Mass during Inflation

T. Brunier·V. K. Onemli·R. P. Woodard
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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 lfat 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.

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T. Brunier, V. K. Onemli, R. P. Woodard. 2004-11-29. Two Loop Scalar Self-Mass during Inflation. https://doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381%2F22%2F1%2F005

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