Standard Inflationary Scenario Research Articles

Emergent cosmology in 4D Einstein Gauss Bonnet theory of gravity

In this paper, in an FLRW background and a perfect fluid equation of state, we explore the possibility of the realization of an emergent scenario in a 4D regularized extension of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, with the field equations particularly expressed in terms of scalar-tensor degrees of freedom. By assuming non-zero spatial curvature (k = ± 1), the stability of the Einstein static universe (ESU) and its subsequent exit into the standard inflationary scenario is tested through different approaches. In terms of dynamical systems, a spatially closed universe rather than an open universe shows appealing behaviour to exhibit a graceful transition from the ESU to standard cosmological history. We found that under linear homogeneous perturbations, for some constraints imposed on the model parameters, the ESU is stable under those perturbations. Moreover, it is noted that for a successful graceful transition, the equation of state ω must satisfy the conditions −1 < ω < 0 and ω < − 1 for closed and open universes, respectively. Furthermore, the ESU is seen to be neutrally stable under matter perturbation in the Newtonian gauge.

Towards a unified interpretation of the early Universe in R 2-corrected dark energy model of F(R) gravity* *T.K. is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFA0718500). S.M. is supported by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (11975108, 12047569, 12147217) and the Seeds Funding of Jilin University

-corrected dark energy (DE) models in gravity have been widely investigated in recent years, which not only removes the weak singularity potentially present in DE models but also provide us with a unified picture of the cosmic history, including the inflationary and DE epochs. Towards the unified interpretation of dynamical DE all over the cosmic history in the class of -corrected DE models, we explore the universal features of the scalaron dynamics in the radiation-dominated epoch, along with the chameleon mechanism, by keeping our eyes on the inflationary and DE epochs. We show that the scalaron evolution does not follow a surfing solution and is mostly adiabatic before big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), even properly including the kick by the nonperturbative QCD phase transition, hence a catastrophic consequence claimed in the literature is not applied to this class of DE models. This is due to the presence of the gigantic scale hierarchy between correction and DE, so is the universal feature for the class of -corrected DE models. The prospects for the post- or onset-inflationary epoch would be pretty different from what the standard inflationary scenario undergoes due to the presence of the chameleon mechanism.

Study of Goldstone inflation in the domain of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity

Realizing the inflationary epoch driven by a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson (pNGB) could ensure the coveted flatness, and the sub-Planckian scales related to the dynamics of the paradigm. In this work, we have taken the most general form of such a scenario: Goldstone inflation proposed in \cite{croon}, and studied the model in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. Natural inflation is a limiting case of this model, is also studied here. The specific form of the EGB coupling gives ample opportunity to study the rich phenomenology associated with inflation as well as the reheating epoch. Predicted values of the inflationary observables, tensor to scalar ratio ($r$), and spectral index ($n_s$) are in good agreement with the recent observations from $Planck'18$ \cite{Planck2018}. Thus, in the framework of EGB one can resurrect the model, which otherwise needs quite a bit of fine tuning or diversion from the canonical domain as studied in \cite{Bhattacharya:2018xlw}, to survive in the standard cold inflationary scenario. Finally, the era of reheating is studied for different choice of model parameters.

Detectable Data-driven Features in the Primordial Scalar Power Spectrum

Abstract In this work we explore the power of future large-scale surveys to constrain possible deviations from the standard single-field slow-roll inflationary scenario. Specifically, we parameterize possible fluctuations around the almost scale-invariant primordial scalar power spectrum in a model-independent way. We then use their imprints on the simulated matter distribution, as observed by the galaxy clustering and weak lensing probes of Euclid and the Square Kilometer Array, to construct the best constrainable patterns of fluctuations. For comparison, we make similar forecasts for a futuristic CMB-S4-like survey. The modes are found to have similar, yet shifted, patterns, with increasing number of wiggles as the mode number increases. The forecasted constraints are tightest for cosmic microwave background anisotropies and galaxy clustering, depending on the details of the specifications of the survey. As case studies, we explore how two greatly different physically motivated patterns of primordial power spectrum are reconstructed by the proposed modes. We propose a figure of merit based on the amount of information delivered by the modes to truncate the mode hierarchy, which is automatically generated by the analysis.

Power law plateau inflation potential in the RS II braneworld evading swampland conjecture

In the recent time, inflationary cosmology is facing an existential crisis due to the proposed Swampland criterion which aims to evade any (meta-)stable de Sitter construction within the String landscape. It is been realised that a single field slow roll inflation is inconsistent with the Swampland criterion unless the inflationary model is realised in some non-standard scenario such as Warm inflation or the Braneworld scenario. Dimopoulos and Owen (Phys Rev D 94(6): 063518, 2016) introduced a new class of model of inflation dubbed as the power law plateau inflation in the standard cold inflationary scenario. But to realise this model in the standard scenario consistent with observation, they had to introduce a phase of thermal inflation. In this paper we have analysed this model in the braneworld scenario to show that for some choice of the parameters defining the model class, one can have an observationally consistent power law plateau without any phase of thermal inflation. We have also shown that, for the correct choice of model parameters, one can easily satisfy the Swampland criterion. Besides, for correct choice of equation of states (w_{re}), one can also satisfy the recently proposed Trans–Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC).

Cosmological Inflation Based on the Uncertainty-Mediated Dark Energy

It was suggested in our previous paper [Yu.V. Dumin, Grav. Cosmol. 25, 169 (2019)] that the cosmological Dark Energy might be mediated by the time–energy uncertainty relation in the Mandelstam–Tamm form, which is appropriate for the long-term evolution of quantum systems. The amount of such Dark Energy gradually decays with time, and the corresponding scale factor of the Universe increases by a “quasi-exponential” law (namely, the exponent is proportional to of the square root of time) throughout the entire cosmological evolution. While such a universal behavior looks quite appealing, an important question arises: Does the quasi-exponential expansion resolve the major problems of the early Universe in the same way as the standard inflationary scenario? In the present paper, we elucidate this issue by analyzing the causal structure of the space–time following from this model. It is found that the observed region of the Universe (the past light cone) covers a single causally connected domain developing from the Planck times (the future light cone). Consequently, there should be no appreciable inhomogeneity and anisotropy in the early Universe, creation of the topological defects will be suppressed, etc. From this point of view, the uncertainty-mediated Dark Energy can serve as a reasonable alternative to the standard (exponential) inflationary scenario.

Suppression of the long-wavelength CMB spectrum from the Hartle–Hawking wave function in the Starobinsky-type inflation model

Abstract The lack of correlations on the large scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy provides a potential window to probe beyond the standard inflationary scenario. In this paper, we investigate the primordial power spectrum based on the Hartle–Hawking (HH) no-boundary proposal for a homogeneous, isotropic, and spatially-closed universe that leads to Starobinsky-type inflation after the classicalization. While we found that there is no suppression at large scales in the standard R + R 2 theory, we also found that it is possible to sufficiently suppress the large-scale power spectrum if a pre-inflationary stage is introduced to the Starobinsky-type model. In addition, such a pre-inflationary stage will be helpful to explain the preference of large e -foldings of the HH proposal. We calculate the C l T T correlation function and show that our proposal gives a better fit to the Planck CMB data. This suggests that our universe might have begun with a compact HH state with a small positive curvature.

Constraining quantum collapse inflationary models with current data: The semiclassical approach

The hypothesis of the self-induced collapse of the inflaton wave function was introduced as a candidate for the physical process responsible for the emergence of inhomogeneity and anisotropy at all scales. In particular, we consider different proposal for the precise form of the dynamics of the inflaton wave function: (i) the GRW-type collapse schemes proposals based on spontaneous individual collapses which generate nonvanishing expectation values of various physical quantities taken as ansatz modifications of the standard inflationary scenario; (ii) the proposal based on a Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) type modification of the Schrödinger evolution of the inflaton wave function, based on a natural choice of collapse operator. We perform a systematic analysis within the semi-classical gravity approximation, of the standing of those models considering a full quasi-de Sitter expansion scenario. We note that the predictions for the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization spectrum differ slightly from those of the standard cosmological model. We also analyze these proposals with a Bayesian model comparison using recent CMB and Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) data. Our results show a moderate preference of the joint CMB and BAO data for one of the studied collapse schemes model over the [Formula: see text]CDM one, while there is no preference when only CMB data are considered. Additionally, analysis using CMB data provide the same Bayesian evidence for both the CSL and Standard Models, i.e. the data have no preference between the simplicity of the LCDM model and the complexity of the collapse scenario.

Logamediate Inflation in f(T) Teleparallel Gravity

Abstract We study logamediate inflation in the context of f(T) teleparallel gravity. f(T)-gravity is a generalization of the teleparallel gravity which is formulated on the Weitzenbock spacetime, characterized by the vanishing curvature tensor (absolute parallelism) and the non-vanishing torsion tensor. We consider an f(T)-gravity model which is sourced by a canonical scalar field. Assuming a power-law f(T) function in the action, we investigate an inflationary universe with a logamediate scale factor. Our results show that, although logamediate inflation is completely ruled out by observational data in the standard inflationary scenario based on Einstein gravity, it can be compatible with the 68% confidence limit joint region of Planck 2015 TT,TE,EE+lowP data in the framework of f(T)-gravity.

Consistency of warmk-inflation

We extend the k-inflation which is a type of kinetically driven inflationary model under the standard inflationary scenario to a possible warm inflationary scenario. The dynamical equations of this warm k-inflation model are obtained. We rewrite the slow-roll parameters which are different from the usual potential driven inflationary models and perform a linear stability analysis to give the proper slow-roll conditions in the warm k-inflation. Two cases, a power-law kinetic function and an exponential kinetic function, are studied, when the dissipative coefficient $\Gamma=\Gamma_0$ and $\Gamma=\Gamma(\phi)$, respectively. A proper number of e-folds is obtained in both concrete cases of warm k-inflation. We find a constant dissipative coefficient ($\Gamma=\Gamma_0$) is not a workable choice for these two cases while the two cases with $\Gamma=\Gamma(\phi)$ are self-consistent warm inflationary models.

Search for compensated isocurvature perturbations with Planck power spectra

In the standard inflationary scenario, primordial perturbations are adiabatic. The amplitudes of most types of isocurvature perturbations are generally constrained by current data to be small. If, however, there is a baryon-density perturbation that is compensated by a dark-matter perturbation in such a way that the total matter density is unperturbed, then this compensated isocurvature perturbation (CIP) has no observable consequence in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at linear order in the CIP amplitude. Here we search for the effects of CIPs on CMB power spectra to quadratic order in the CIP amplitude. An analysis of the Planck temperature data leads to an upper bound $\Delta_{\rm rms}^2 \leq 7.1\times 10^{-3}$, at the 68\% confidence level, to the variance $\Delta_{\rm rms}^2$ of the CIP amplitude. This is then strengthened to $\Delta_{\rm rms}^2\leq 5.0\times 10^{-3}$ if Planck small-angle polarization data are included. A cosmic-variance-limited CMB experiment could improve the $1\sigma$ sensitivity to CIPs to $\Delta^2_{\rm rms} \lesssim 9\times 10^{-4}$. It is also found that adding CIPs to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model can improve the fit of the observed smoothing of CMB acoustic peaks just as much as adding a non-standard lensing amplitude.

Power-law and intermediate inflationary models in f(T)-gravity

We study inflation in the framework of $f(T)$-gravity in the presence of a canonical scalar field. After reviewing the basic equations governing the background cosmology in $f(T)$-gravity, we turn to study the cosmological perturbations and obtain the evolutionary equations for the scalar and tensor perturbations. Solving those equations, we find the power spectra for the scalar and tensor perturbations. Then, we consider a power-law form for the $f(T)$ function in the action and examine the inflationary models with the power-law and intermediate scale factors. We see that in contrast with the standard inflationary scenario based on the Einstein gravity, in the considered $f(T)$-gravity scenario, the power-law and intermediate inflationary models can be compatible with the observational results of Planck 2015 at 68\% CL. In our $f(T)$-gravity setting, the potentials responsible for both the power-law and intermediate inflationary models have the power-law form $V(\phi ) \propto {\phi ^m}$ but the power $m$ is different for them. Therefore, we can refine some of power-law inflationary potentials in the framework of $f(T)$-gravity while they are disfavored by the observational data in the standard inflationary scenario. Interestingly enough, the self-interacting quartic potential $V(\phi ) \propto {\phi ^4}$ which has special reheating properties, can be consistent with the Planck 2015 data in our $f(T)$-gravity scenario while it is ruled out in the standard inflationary scenario.

Quantum collapse as a source of the seeds of cosmic structure during the radiation era

The emergence of the seeds of cosmic structure, from a perfect isotropic and homogeneous Universe, has not been clearly explained by the standard version of inflationary models as the dynamics involved preserve the homogeneity and isotropy at all times. A proposal that attempts to deal with this problem, by introducing ``the self-induced collapse hypothesis,'' has been introduced by D. Sudarsky and collaborators in previous papers. In all these works, the collapse of the wave function of the inflaton mode is restricted to occur during the inflationary period. In this paper, we analyze the possibility that the collapse happens during the radiation era. A viable model can be constructed under the condition that the inflaton field variable must be affected by the collapse while the momentum variable can or cannot be affected. Another condition to be fulfilled is that the time of collapse must be independent of $k$. However, when comparing with recent observational data, the predictions of the model cannot be distinguished from the ones provided by the standard inflationary scenario. The main reason for this arises from the requirement that primordial power spectrum obtained for the radiation era matches the amplitude of scalar fluctuations consistent with the latest cosmic microwave background observations. This latter constraint results in a limit on the possible times of collapse and ensures that the contribution of the inflaton field to the energy-momentum tensor is negligible compared to the contribution of the radiation fields.

Consistency relation in power law G-inflation

In the standard inflationary scenario based on a minimally coupled scalar field, canonical or non-canonical, the subluminal propagation of speed of scalar perturbations ensures the following consistency relation: r ⩽ −8nT, where r is the tensor-to-scalar-ratio and nT is the spectral index for tensor perturbations. However, recently, it has been demonstrated that this consistency relation could be violated in Galilean inflation models even in the absence of superluminal propagation of scalar perturbations. It is therefore interesting to investigate whether the subluminal propagation of scalar field perturbations impose any bound on the ratio r/|nT| in G-inflation models. In this paper, we derive the consistency relation for a class of G-inflation models that lead to power law inflation. Within these class of models, it turns out that one can have r > −8nT or r ⩽ −8nT depending on the model parameters. However, the subluminal propagation of speed of scalar field perturbations, as required by causality, restricts r ⩽ −(32/3) nT.

Cosmology with nonminimal kinetic coupling and a power-law potential

We consider cosmological dynamics in the theory of gravity with the scalar field possessing a nonminimal kinetic coupling to gravity, $\kappa G_{\mu\nu}\phi^{\mu}\phi^{\nu}$, and the power-law potential $V(\phi)=V_0\phi^N$. Using the dynamical system method, we analyze all possible asymptotical regimes of the model under investigation and show that for sloping potentials with $0<N<2$ there exists a quasi-de Sitter asymptotic $H={1}/{\sqrt{9\kappa}}$ corresponding to an early inflationary Universe. In contrast to the standard inflationary scenario, the kinetic coupling inflation does not depend on a scalar field potential and is only determined by the coupling parameter $\kappa$. We obtain that there exist two different late-time asymptotical regimes. The first one leads to the usual power-like cosmological evolution with $H=1/3t$, while the second one represents the late-time inflationary Universe with $H=1/\sqrt{3\kappa}$. This secondary inflationary phase depends only on $\kappa$ and is a specific feature of the model with nonminimal kinetic coupling. Additionally, an asymptotical analysis shows that for the quadric potential with N=2 the asymptotical regimes remain qualitatively the same, while the kinetic coupling inflation is impossible for steep potentials with N>2. Using a numerical analysis, we also construct exact cosmological solutions and find initial conditions leading to the initial kinetic coupling inflation followed either by a "graceful" oscillatory exit or by the secondary inflation.

The collapse of the wave function in the joint metric-matter quantization for inflation

It has been argued that the standard inflationary scenario suffers from a serious deficiency as a model for the origin of the seeds of cosmic structure: it can not truly account for the transition from an early homogeneous and isotropic stage to another one lacking such symmetries. The issue has often been thought as a standard instance of the “quantum measurement problem”, but as has been recently argued by some of us, that quagmire reaches a critical level in the cosmological context of interest here. This has lead to a proposal in which the standard paradigm is supplemented by a hypothesis concerning the self-induced dynamical collapse of the wave function, as representing the physical mechanism through which such change of symmetry is brought forth. This proposal was originally formulated within the context of semiclassical gravity. Here we investigate an alternative realization of such idea implemented directly within the standard analysis in terms of a quantum field jointly describing the inflaton and metric perturbations, the so called Mukhanov–Sasaki variable. We show that even though the prescription is quite different, the theoretical predictions include some deviations from the standard ones, which are indeed very similar to those found in the early studies. We briefly discuss the differences between the two prescriptions, at both, the conceptual and practical levels.

Wiggles in the cosmic microwave background radiation: Echoes from nonsingular cyclic inflation

In this paper we consider a unique model of inflation where the universe undergoes rapid asymmetric oscillations, each cycle lasting millions of Planck time. Over many-many cycles the space-time expands to mimic the standard inflationary scenario. Moreover, these rapid oscillations leave a distinctive periodic signature in ln(k) in the primordial power spectrum, where k denotes the comoving scale. The best fit parameters of the cyclic-inflation model provides a very good fit to the 7-year WMAP data.

WARM TACHYONIC INFLATION IN A WARPED BACKGROUND

We analyze warm tachyonic inflation, proposed in the literature, from the viewpoint of four-dimensional effective action for the tachyon field on a non-BPS D3-brane. We find that consistency with observational data on density perturbation and validity of effective action requires warped compactification. The number of background branes which source the flux is found to be of the order of 10, in contrast to the order of 1014 in the standard cold inflationary scenario.

Massive relic gravitational waves from f(R) theories of gravity: production and potential detection

The production of a stochastic background of relic gravitational waves is well known in various works in the literature, where, by using the so called adiabatically-amplified zero-point fluctuations process, it has been shown how the standard inflationary scenario for the early universe can in principle provide a distinctive spectrum of relic gravitational waves. In this paper, it is shown that, in general, f(R) theories of gravity produce a third massive polarization of gravitational waves and the primordial production of this polarization is analysed adapting the adiabatically-amplified zero-point fluctuations process at this case. In this way, previous results, where only particular cases of f(R) theories have been analysed, will be generalized. The presence of the mass could also have important applications in cosmology, because the fact that gravitational waves can have mass could give a contribution to the dark matter of the Universe. An upper bound for these relic gravitational waves, which arises from the WMAP constrains, is also released. At the end of the paper, the potential detection of such massive gravitational waves using interferometers like Virgo and LIGO is discussed.

Gravitational wave background from superinflation in loop quantum cosmology

We investigate the behavior of tensor fluctuations in Loop Quantum Cosmology, focusing on a class of scaling solutions which admit a near scale-invariant scalar field power spectrum. We obtain the spectral index of the gravitational field perturbations, and find a strong blue tilt in the power spectrum with ${n}_{t}\ensuremath{\approx}2$. The amplitude of tensor modes are, therefore, suppressed by many orders of magnitude on large scales compared to those predicted by the standard inflationary scenario where ${n}_{t}\ensuremath{\approx}0$.