Related papers: Eternal Inflation: Prohibited by Quantum Gravity?
In the context of Quantum Cosmology and the Wheeler-DeWitt equation we investigate the possible effects of a non semiclassical wave-function of the universe on the evolution of the inflationary perturbations. These are associated with the…
We study the future evolution of quintessence/phantom dominated epoch in modified $F(R)$-gravity which unifies the early-time inflation with late-time acceleration and which is consistent with observational tests. Using the reconstruction…
Cosmological inflation is studied in the case where the inflaton is the overall modulus $T$ for an orbifold. General forms of the (non-perturbative) superpotential are considered to ensure that $G=K+{\rm ln}|W|^2$ is modular invariant. We…
We study inflation for a quantum scalar electrodynamics model in curved space-time and for higher-derivative quantum gravity (QG) coupled with scalar electrodynamics. The corresponding renormalization-group (RG) improved potential is…
The union of high-energy particle theories and gravitation often gives rise to an evolving strength of gravity. The standard picture of the earliest universe would certainly deserve revision if the Planck mass, which defines the strength of…
In pursuing the intriguing resemblance of the Einstein equations to thermodynamic equations, most sharply seen in systems possessing horizons, we suggest that eternal inflation of the stochastic type may be a fruitful phenomenon to explore.…
It has been known for some time that the usual inference drawn from the observed near-flatness of the large-scale Universe - namely the existence of a cosmological "flatness problem", which is then taken as a partial, but key motivation for…
In a previous paper we proposed a new approach to the beginning of inflation -- a lingering universe. The universe begins in a lingering state with a nearly vanishing Hubble parameter. This calls into question the absolute age of the…
In this work we study a modified version of $f(R)$ gravity in which higher order kinetic terms of a scalar field are added in the action of vacuum $f(R)$ gravity. This type of theory is a type of $k$-essence $f(R)$ gravity, and it belongs…
We consider the possibility of a past and future eternal universe, constructing geodesically complete inflating, loitering, and bouncing spacetimes. We identify the constraints energy conditions in General Relativity place on the building…
In this review I consider several different issues related to inflation. I will begin with the wave function of the Universe. This issue is pretty old, but recently there were some new insights based on the theory of the self-reproducing…
Fundamental theories of quantum gravity such as supergravity include a four form field strength which contributes to the cosmological constant. The inclusion of such a field into our theory of open inflation (hep-th/9802030) allows an…
The advancement in the observational cosmology of the early universe such as Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations, puts severe constraints on the inflationary models. Many inflationary models have been ruled out by CMB,…
We perform a model-independent analysis of kinetically driven inflation (KDI) which (partially) includes Generalized G-inflation and Ghost inflation. We evaluate the background evolution splitting into the inflationary attractor and the…
Causality is a seminal concept in science: Any research discipline, from sociology and medicine to physics and chemistry, aims at understanding the causes that could explain the correlations observed among some measured variables. While…
We consider the fate of the observable universe in the light of the discovery of a dark energy component to the cosmic energy budget. We extend results for a cosmological constant to a general dark energy component and examine the…
Supergravity embedding of the Standard Model of particle physics provides phenomenologically well-motivated and observationally viable inflationary scenarios. We investigate a class of inflationary models based on the superconformal…
Inflation as the leading paradigm depicting the very early universe physics could leave imprints on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Using currently available CMB observations, we give the tightest constraints on inflation…
The trace-free version of the Einstein Gravitational equations, essentially equivalent to unimodular gravity, can solve the troubling issue of the huge discrepancy between quantum field theory estimates of the vacuum energy density and the…
We investigate the validity of the assertion that eternal inflation populates the landscape of string theory. We verify that bubble solutions do not satisfy the Klein Gordon equation for the landscape potential. Solutions to the landscape…