English

Reconstructing inflation in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in light of ACT data

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2026-01-28 v1 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

During the inflationary epoch, we investigate the reconstruction of the background variables within the framework of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, considering the scalar spectral index ns(N)n_s(N) and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r(N)r(N), where NN denotes the number of ee-folds. Under a general formalism, we determine the effective potential and the coupling function associated with the Gauss-Bonnet term as functions of the cosmological parameters ns(N)n_s(N) and r(N)r(N), respectively. To implement the reconstruction methodology for the background variables, we study an example in which the attractors for the index nsn_s and the ratio rr are in agreement with Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data. In this context, explicit expressions for the effective potential V(ϕ)V(\phi) and the coupling parameter ξ(ϕ)\xi(\phi) are reconstructed. Moreover, the reconstruction based on observational parameters shows that V(ϕ)∝̸1/ξ(ϕ)V(\phi)\not\propto 1/\xi(\phi), in contrast to the assumption adopted in the literature for the study of the evolution of the universe in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.18958,
  title  = {Reconstructing inflation in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in light of ACT data},
  author = {Ramón Herrera and Carlos Ríos},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.18958},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

13 pages, 1 figure