Post-Inflationary Dynamics

Abstract

We argue that $\Lambda$-driven inflation must overshoot into an era of deflation. The deflationary period ends quickly with the creation of a hot dense thermal barrier to the forward propagation of quantum correlations from the period of inflationary particle production. Subsequent evolution is controlled by the balance between the persistence of this barrier and the growth in the 4-volume from which such correlations can be seen. This balance can lead to power law expansion.