English

Quantum Gravity and Inflation

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2015-06-04 v4 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We review some perturbative results obtained in quantum gravity in an accelerating cosmological background. We then describe a class of non-local, purely gravitational models which have the correct structure to reproduce the leading infrared logarithms of quantum gravitational back-reaction during the inflationary regime. These models end inflation in a distinctive phase of oscillations with slight and short violations of the weak energy condition and should, when coupled to matter, lead to rapid reheating. By elaborating this class of models we exhibit one that has the same behaviour during inflation, goes quiescent until the onset of matter domination, and induces a small, positive cosmological constant of about the right size thereafter. We also briefly comment on the primordial density perturbations that this class of models predict.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1204.6558,
  title  = {Quantum Gravity and Inflation},
  author = {M. G. Romania and N. C. Tsamis and R. P. Woodard},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1204.6558},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

28 pages, 6 figures, lectures given at the 6th Aegean Summer School in Naxos, Greece, September 12-17, 2011 Version 2 has some typos corrected

R2 v1 2026-06-21T20:56:26.865Z