Fluctuations of scalar fields produced at the stage of preheating after inflation are so large that they can break supersymmetry much stronger than inflation itself. These fluctuations may lead to symmetry restoration along flat directions of the effective potential even in the theories where the usual high temperature corrections are exponentially suppressed. We show that nonthermal phase transitions after preheating may play a crucial role in the generation of the baryon asymmetry by the Affleck-Dine mechanism. In particular, the baryon asymmetry may be generated at the very early state of the evolution of the Universe, at the preheating era, and not when the Hubble parameter becomes of order the gravitino mass.

• Received 24 June 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3716