Effective inhomogeneous inflation: curvature inhomogeneities of the Einstein vacuum

Abstract

We consider spatially averaged inhomogeneous universe models and argue that, already in the absence of sources, an effective scalar field arises through foliating and spatially averaging inhomogeneous geometrical curvature invariants of the Einstein vacuum. This scalar field (the ‘morphon’) acts as an inflaton, if we prescribe a potential of some generic form. We show that, for any initially negative average spatial curvature, the morphon is driven through an inflationary phase and leads—on average—to a spatially flat, homogeneous and isotropic universe model, providing initial conditions for pre-heating and, by the same mechanism, a possibly natural self-exit.