Oscillons in scalar field theories: Applications in higher dimensions and inflation

The basic properties of oscillons - localized, long-lived, time-dependent scalar field configurations - are briefly reviewed, including recent results demonstrating how their existence depends on the dimensionality of space-time. Their role on the dynamics of phase transitions is discussed, and it is shown that oscillons may greatly accelerate the decay of metastable vacuum states. This mechanism for vacuum decay - resonant nucleation - is then applied to cosmological inflation. A new inflationary model is proposed which terminates with fast bubble nucleation.