Pion production in nonequilibrium Chiral perturbation Theory

Abstract

We apply the formalism of Chiral Perturbation Theory out of thermal equilibrium to describe explosive production of pions via the parametric resonance mechanism. To lowest order the lagrangian is that of the Nonlinear Sigma Model where the pion decay constant becomes a time-dependent function. This model alows for a consistent nonequilibrium formulation within the framework of the closed time path method, where one-loop effects can be systematically accounted for and renormalized. We work in the narrow resonance regime where there is only one resonant band. The present approach is limited to remain below the back-reaction time, although it accounts for nearly all the pion production during the typical plasma lifetime. The space and time components of the pion decay constant are also analyzed.