Affleck-Dine condensate, late thermalization, and the gravitino problem

In this clarifying paper we discuss the late decay of an Affleck-Dine condensate by providing a no-go theorem that attributes to conserved global charges which are identified by the net particle number in fields which are included in the flat direction(s). For a rotating condensate, this implies that (1) the net baryon/lepton number density stored in the condensate is always conserved, and (2) the total particle number density in the condensate cannot decrease. This reiterates that, irrespective of possible nonperturbative particle production due to D terms in a multiple flat direction case, the prime decay mode of an Affleck-Dine condensate will be perturbative as originally envisaged. As a result, cosmological consequences of flat directions such as delayed thermalization as a novel solution to the gravitino overproduction problem will remain virtually intact.