Sexton, Matthew G.2009-02-242009-02-242008-12https://hdl.handle.net/11299/47773University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. December 2008. Major: Physcis. Advisor: Prof. Marco Peloso. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 179 pages, appendices A-G.I study the post-inflation oscillation and decay of light coherent scalar field condensates that may develop during an inflationary phase of the universe. In particular, the light scalars studied are a composition of the scalar particles of a supersymmetric theory which correspond to the flat directions of the theory's scalar potential. Some toy models that possess supersymmetric flat directions are presented and numerical solutions for the evolution of the scalar fields are obtained. Both analytic and numeric results suggest that such condensates, if they existed in the early universe, can decay through a rapid and nonperturbative process long before these condensates could significantly affect the thermalization of the universe.en-USFlat DirectionsInflationModuliPreheatingReheatingSupersymmetryPhysicsThesis or Dissertation