REVIEW
LATTICEEASY: A Program for Lattice Simulations of Scalar Fields in an Expanding Universe
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Submitted 13 Nov 2000 · 11 references
Pith's verdict: A short, honest announcement of a tool that turned out to matter — the physics is standard, the validation is thin, and the paper says up front that the real documentation lives on the website.
T0 · AI review
Why Pith says this
Highlight any text to comment on it.
Referee report
The paper
The paper claims
The authors release a lattice program that solves the classical field equations of an expanding universe, so that reheating after inflation can be followed past the point where linear and Hartree approximations break down.
The reading
What carries the argument
The load-bearing mechanism is a staggered leapfrog integrator on a fixed time step, made applicable to an expanding universe by rescaled variables. Field values $f$ and their derivatives $dot{f}$ are stored half a step apart; derivatives advance the fields by a full step, then the fields give the second derivatives that advance the derivatives. The method is stable only for equations of the form $ddot{f} = ddot{f}(f)$ with no first-derivative term, so the program rescales field and spacetime variables to remove the $3Hdot{f}$ friction term, with a fixed relationship enforced between the field and time rescalings. Initial conditions are set in momentum space rather than configuration space: each mode gets a random phase and a Gaussian amplitude with dispersion $langle |f_k|^2 rangle = 1/(2omega_k)$ and $omega_k^2 = k^2 + m^2$, $m^2 = partial^2 V/partial f^2$, then Fourier transformed to the grid, with optional homogeneous field and derivative values added on top.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
The claim is a tool claim: that a single, portable C++ code can solve the Euler-Lagrange equations $ddot{f} + 3Hdot{f} + partial V/partial f = 0$ for an arbitrary collection of interacting scalar fields on a lattice, optionally coupled to the Friedmann equations $ddot{a} = -frac{4pi a}{3}(rho + 3p)$ and $(dot{a}/a)^2 = frac{8pi}{3}rho$ so that expansion is computed from the simulated fields themselves. The authors report that every potential-specific piece of physics lives in a model file, a header the program reads in, which must supply the potential and its first and second derivatives; a second file holds run parameters such as grid size, time step, random seed, and which outputs to produce. Built-in outputs cover field means and variances, spectra, energy-density components, energy conservation, and one- and two-dimensional field histograms, with a hook for model-specific output. The evidence offered is that the program has already been used in the authors' published work on parametric resonance, gravitational-wave production, phase transitions and topological defects, thermalization, and disordered chiral condensates, and that it is now publicly available with full documentation.
Load-bearing premise
The fixed-step staggered leapfrog, once the fields and time are rescaled to remove the expansion friction term, stays stable and converged in the strongly nonlinear, high-occupancy regimes where users actually apply it; the paper offers no convergence test, time-step criterion, or resolution study to back this.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- Groups with a new inflationary potential can run nonlinear lattice simulations by writing one header file, rather than writing a solver from scratch.
- Because expansion can be solved self-consistently from the simulated fields, reheating can be followed through the transition from inflaton domination to a radiation-dominated universe within a single run.
- Built-in spectra, energy-component breakdowns, and energy-conservation output give a direct numerical check on whether a run is resolving the dynamics it claims to resolve.
- The same code covers applications beyond reheating, including phase transitions, topological defect formation, and the classical limit of nonequilibrium quantum field theory.
- The authors' stated plans — coupling field and metric perturbations, and adding vector fields for gauge models — mark out the boundary of what this version can currently be trusted to compute.
Reading between the lines
- A tool paper of this kind is only as good as its convergence behaviour, and the natural next step for a user community is a published resolution study: same model, several time steps and lattice sizes, comparing late-time spectra and energy conservation.
- Because the initial conditions are classical realizations of quantum vacuum fluctuations, the code's domain of validity is set by when occupation numbers become large; a reader could test this directly by running the same model with and without the initial fluctuation spectrum and checking where results diverge.
- The reference list doubles as a map of what the method has been applied to and what it has not, so the gaps there are a reasonable guide to which cosmological models remain unexamined by lattice methods.
Original abstract
We describe a C++ program that we have written and made available for calculating the evolution of interacting scalar fields in an expanding universe. The program is particularly useful for the study of reheating and thermalization after inflation. The program and its full documentation are available on the Web at http://physics.stanford.edu/gfelder/latticeeasy/ . In this paper we provide a brief overview of what the program does and what it is useful for.
The compiled record
The paper's own sentences, arranged, kept beside the review and separate from it. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.
The abstract, sentence by sentence
We describe a C++ program that we have written and made available for calculating the evolution of interacting scalar fields in an expanding universe. The program is particularly useful for the study of reheating and thermalization after inflation. The program and its full documentation are available on the Web at http://physics.stanford.edu/gfelder/latticeeasy/ . In this paper we provide a brief overview of what the program does and what it is useful for.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | We describe a C++ program that we have written and made available for calculating the evolution of interacting scalar fields in an expanding universe. | contribution 0.96 | 0.92 | 0.19 | asserted 1.00 |
| s1 | The program is particularly useful for the study of reheating and thermalization after inflation. | contribution 0.71 | 0.17 | 0.10 | asserted 0.93 |
| s2 | The program and its full documentation are available on the Web at http://physics.stanford.edu/gfelder/latticeeasy/ . | contribution 0.85 | 0.53 | 0.03 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | In this paper we provide a brief overview of what the program does and what it is useful for. | contribution 0.89 | 0.71 | 0.08 | asserted 0.93 |
What was examined, and what was not
- arXiv listing abstract v1
- full text
- figures and tables
- references and citing sentences
- relations to other papers
- P abstract
- S sections
- T body sentences
- C citations
- R cross-paper relations
Figures
Figures reproduced from arXiv:hep-ph/0011159 by the authors.
References
How later papers used it
116 later papers cite it
23 later papers by other authors are listed below: 23 used its method or tool.
Uses its method or tool 23 of 67 papers with this label
-
Used the numerical code LATTICEEASY to compute the root mean square of the scalar spectator field in its model and to calculate the modified term in the potential.
Transient Acceleration after Non-minimal M-flation Preheating (2023) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Performed lattice simulations with the parallel code ClusterEasy and computed the resulting GW spectrum with the method of another work, extended to account for the expansion of the universe.
Gravitational Waves from the Non-Perturbative Decay of Condensates along Supersymmetric Flat Directions (2009) · 0.96 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Used LATTICEEASY to simulate the scalar field evolution of a field in its potential.
What can we learn from the stochastic gravitational wave background produced by oscillons? (2017) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Performed a lattice calculation using LATTICEEASY, with fields and derivatives evaluated on an evenly spaced spatial grid in an expanding background, to solve the coupled differential equations including the spatial dependence of the Higgs field.
On the Cosmological Stability of the Higgs Instability (2022) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Adapted the publicly available LATTICEEASY code, incorporating the evolution of an equation together with the scalar field equations into the staggered leapfrog integrator routine.
A Gravitational Wave Background from Reheating after Hybrid Inflation (2007) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Studied the non-linear dynamics of the scalar field of the KKLT model using a modified version of Lattice-Easy to solve its equation on lattices.
Revisiting oscillon formation in KKLT scenario (2020) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Used a modified version of LATTICEEASY to simulate multi-stream inflation.
Lattice Simulation of Multi-Stream Inflation (2021) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Performed lattice simulations of its system using the publicly available numerical package LATTICEEASY to examine the behavior of inflaton and moduli fields during preheating and estimate moduli abundance from parametric resonance.
Non-thermal moduli production during preheating in $\alpha$-attractor inflation models (2023) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Used LatticeEasy to simulate the evolution of a spectator field and its daughter field in a matter-dominated background.
A Cosmic Microscope for the Preheating Era (2020) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Computed the field evolution using LATTICEEASY, which uses a staggered leapfrog integrator.
Gravitational Waves From the End of Inflation: Computational Strategies (2007) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Implemented a Klein-Gordon finite-difference solver similar to LatticeEasy in the AMReX framework.
Post-inflationary structure formation boosted by parametric self-resonance (2023) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Adapted the publicly available LATTICEEASY code, incorporating the evolution of an equation together with the scalar field equations into the staggered leapfrog integrator routine.
A new gravitational wave background from the Big Bang (2008) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Set the spectra of quantum fluctuations in the lattice in a similar way as in Latticeeasy, imposing spectra for the Higgs field amplitude and derivatives in momentum space.
Higgs-curvature coupling and post-inflationary vacuum instability (2017) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Solved the equations of motion and the Friedmann equation numerically using a parallelized version of LatticeEasy to study the non-linear dynamics.
The Equation of State and Duration to Radiation Domination After Inflation (2016) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Used the publicly available code LATTICEEASY to study dark matter production during preheating.
Non-thermal production of Dark Matter after Inflation (2018) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
To solve Eqs. [ref], [ref], [ref] and [ref], we use the public LatticeEasy package [ref] , but with the integrator modified to the 4th order Runge-Kutta method.
Spillway Preheating (2021) · Model and approach · 1.00
-
Integrated its equations of motion numerically using the LatticeEasy code, which uses a staggered leapfrog integrator.
On the Suppression of Parametric Resonance and the Viability of Tachyonic Preheating after Multi-Field Inflation (2009) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Employed the same second order algorithm used in this paper.
Particle Production near an AdS Crunch (2010) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Confirmed its results by using LATTICEEASY.
Fate of Electroweak Vacuum during Preheating (2016) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Confirmed its expected late-time yields with a lattice computation using LATTICEEASY, approximating the vector interaction by that of a scalar field with a quartic coupling.
Parametric Resonance Production of Ultralight Vector Dark Matter (2018) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
To solve this problem we have exploited a method adopted in Ref. [ref] to correct the staggered leapfrog for this particular equation.
The Effect of Non-minimally Coupled Scalar Field on Gravitational Waves from First-order Vacuum Phase Transitions (2022) · NUMERICAL METHODS AND THE POWER SPECTRA · 1.00
-
Used this paper to find numerical upper bounds on the portal couplings as a function of m_ϕ/M_p, using the condition that the instability timescale is longer than the parametric resonance regime lasts.
Stability, reheating and leptogenesis (2019) · 0.99 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
-
Performed its numerical simulations using a new lattice code containing modified elements of both LatticeEasy and DEFROST.
Preheating After Modular Inflation (2009) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
How the literature uses it
95 arXiv papers cite this in 115 sentences
Papers citing it · 33 sentences without a confident label
Uses its method or tool 58 papers
-
Due to quantum fluctuations of the scalar fields during preheating the effective potential acquires the following correction [ref] [equation] In our work, to calculate the dispersion of the spectator field, $⟨Ψ̃_i^2⟩$, we perform a lattice simulation by using the computational code LATTICEEASY [ref] .
Transient Acceleration after Non-minimal M-flation Preheating · Preheating in non-$𝕄$-flation · 0.92
-
We perform lattice simulations with the parallel code ClusterEasy [ref] and we compute the resulting GW spectrum with the method of [ref] , extended here to take into account the expansion of the universe.
Gravitational Waves from the Non-Perturbative Decay of Condensates along Supersymmetric Flat Directions · Introduction · 0.96
-
To properly solve the system of coupled differential equations, including the spatial dependence of the Higgs field, we have performed a lattice calculation making use of the program LATTICEEASY, where the fields and its derivatives are evaluated on a spatial grid with evenly spaced points, in an expanding background [ref] .
On the Cosmological Stability of the Higgs Instability · The dynamics in the interior of the Higgs bubbles · 1.00
Uses its data or values 2 papers
-
For example, for the $ϕ^4$ and $ϕ^2$ chaotic inflationary models, lattice simulations [ref] show that preheating can lead to GWs with frequencies of around $10^6 ∼10^8$ Hz and peak power of $Ω_gwh^2 ≈10^-9 ∼10^-11$ at present [ref] .
The Gravitational-Wave Physics · During Preheating · 0.88
-
In particular, the authors of Ref. [ref] determined that numerically, the EoS parameter exhibited a slow increase from a value of $ω_reh=0$ at the end of inflation to $ω_reh∼0.3$ during the reheating epoch.
Reconstructing inflation and reheating in the framework of a generalized $\mathcal{F}(H)$ Friedmann equation · Introduction · 0.94
Compares with it 1 paper
-
HLattice conserves energy with an accuracy of order $∼10^-8$, as compared to $10^-3-10^-5$, which has obtained using previous codes such as DEFROST [ref] or LATTICEASY [ref] .
Nongaussianity from Particle Production During Inflation · HLattice Simulations · 0.96
Cites it as support 1 paper
-
Being a strong out of equilibrium process (and also turbulent, according to theoretical and numerical studies [ref] ), the reheating period is therefore a suitable scenario for primordial magnetogenesis.
Primordial magnetogenesis · Magnetogenesis during reheating · 0.96
Cites it as background 8 papers
-
As for the quantum nature of the inflaton, it is described by the statistical uncertainty generated by semi-classical approximation [ref] .
Lattice Simulation of Multi-Stream Inflation · Evolution Equations · 0.87
-
Preheating is complicated by the importance of backreaction after the first few bursts of particle production which affects resonances; these effects can only be recovered using lattice simulations [ref] , which have only become feasible for more complicated scenarios in recent years.
On the Suppression of Parametric Resonance and the Viability of Tachyonic Preheating after Multi-Field Inflation · Introduction · 0.84
-
The application of numerical methods to the study of non-linear field dynamics in the early Universe has grown substantially, as reflected e.g. by the number of specialized packages developed in recent years [ref] , see also [ref] .
CosmoLattice 2.0 · Introduction · 0.99
Discussion
Disagree with the review, or know something it missed? Leave a comment, highlight any passage above to comment on it, or challenge this review formally.