Quantum-field-theoretic analysis of inflation dynamics in a (2+1)-dimensional universe.

Abstract

We reexamine inflationary scenarios based on slow-rollover transitions, which occur under various initial conditions of the inflation-driving scalar field. We examine inflation dynamics using a recently developed calculational technique for studying a quantum-field-theoretic system in an external environment that is itself changing with time. This method, based on the functional Schr\"odinger picture, uses a self-consistent Gaussian approximation that, unlike ordinary perturbation theory, reflects some of the nonlinearities of the full quantum theory. Our treatment is confined to planar universes, where the approximation techniques do not suffer from well-known problems associated with scalar field self-interactions in four-dimensional space-time. However, for these toy models we can present concrete and explicit results.