Dissipative Genesis of the Inflationary Universe

We study an inflation model with a flat scalar potential supported by observations and find that slow-roll inflation can emerge after a quasi-cyclic phase of the Universe, where it undergoes repeated expansions and contractions for a finite time period. The initial conditions and the positive spatial curvature required for such nontrivial dynamics align with the quantum creation of the Universe. The key ingredients that trigger inflation are dissipative interactions of the inflaton, which are necessary to reheat the Universe after inflation and thus give us an observational handle on pre-inflationary physics. Our discovery implies that inflation occurs more robustly after the creation.