Gauge field back-reaction in Born–Infeld cosmologies

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the back-reaction of U(1) gauge fields into a specific class of inflationary settings. To be more precise, we employ a Bianchi-I geometry (taken as an anisotropic perturbation of a flat FRW model) within two types of Born–Infeld (BI) theories. First, we consider pure Born–Infeld electromagnetism. For either a constant or a b(ϕ) coupling, inflationary trajectories are modified but anisotropies increase. In particular, for the former coupling we find that a quadratic inflaton potential, within a constant ratio for the scalar and gauge energy densities, does not induce sufficient inflation, while in the latter, the back-reaction in the cosmology determines (from the tensor–scalar ratio) a narrow range where inflation can occur. A Dirac–Born–Infeld framework is analysed afterwards in both non-relativistic and relativistic regimes. In the former, for different cases of the coupling (richer with respect to mere BI setups) between scalar and gauge sectors, we find that inflationary trajectories are modified, with anisotropy increasing or decreasing. In particular, a tachyonic solution is studied, allowing for a nonstandard ratio between scalar and gauge matter densities, enhancing sufficient inflation, but with the anisotropy increasing. For the relativistic limit, inflationary trajectories are also modified and anisotropies increase faster than in the non-relativistic limit. Finally we discuss how magnetic seed fields could evolve in these settings.