Suppression of entropy perturbations in multifield inflation on the brane

Abstract

At energies higher than the brane tension, the dynamics of a scalar field rolling down a potential are modified relative to the predictions of General Relativity. The modifications imply, among other things, that steeper potentials can be used to drive an epoch of slow–roll inflation. We investigate the evolution of entropy and adiabatic modes during inflation driven by two scalar fields confined on the brane. We show that the amount of entropy perturbations produced during inflation is suppressed compared to the predictions made by General Relativity. As a consequence, the initial conditions do not matter in multiple field inflation in brane worlds if inflation is driven at energies much higher than the brane tension. DAMTP-2002-107 Inflation provides an explanation for the origin of structures in the universe. In its simplest form, inflation is driven by a single scalar field, called the inflaton, which slowly rolls down a potential. Perturbations in the inflaton field are adiabatic and obey Gaussian statistics [1]. However, this picture might be over simplistic as there is no reason to believe that inflation is driven solely by a single scalar field. Instead, the possibility that inflation is driven by a system of several scalar fields must be considered. In particular, perturbations are, in general, no longer purely adiabatic. Entropy (or isocurvature) per