Related papers: Generating Scale-Invariant Perturbations from Rapi…
The entropic mechanism for producing nearly scale-invariant density perturbations in a contracting ekpyrotic universe relies on having an unstable scalar potential. Here we develop a variant of this mechanism (recently proposed by Qiu, Gao…
The universe can be made flat and smooth by undergoing a phase of ultra-slow (ekpyrotic) contraction, a condition achievable with a single, canonical scalar field and conventional general relativity. It has been argued, though, that…
We explore a new type of entropic mechanism for generating density perturbations in a contracting phase in which there are two scalar fields, but only one has a steep negative potential. This first field dominates the energy density and is…
The ekpyrotic slow contraction or the slow expansion might be responsible for the adiabatical production of the nearly scale invariant curvature perturbation. However, the tensor perturbation generated is generally strongly blue, which…
Ekpyrotic bouncing cosmologies have been proposed as alternatives to inflation. In these scenarios, the universe is smoothed and flattened during a period of slow contraction preceding the bounce while quantum fluctuations generate nearly…
For a single scalar field with unit sound speed minimally coupled to Einstein gravity, there are exactly three distinct cosmological solutions which produce a scale invariant spectrum of curvature perturbations in a dynamical attractor…
We derive all single-field cosmologies with unit sound speed that generate scale invariant curvature perturbations on a dynamical attractor background. We identify three distinct phases: slow-roll inflation; a slowly contracting adiabatic…
The evolution of gauge invariant second-order scalar perturbations in a general single field inflationary scenario are presented. Different second order gauge invariant expressions for the curvature are considered. We evaluate…
In the standard entropic mechanism adopted in the simple Ekpyrotic models to generate the nearly scale-invariant and Gaussian primordial perturbation, the entropy direction is tachyonically unstable. In this paper, we consider the stable…
We consider a cosmological scenario in which a scale-invariant spectrum of curvature perturbations is generated by a rapidly-evolving equation of state on a slowly expanding background. This scenario generalizes the "adiabatic ekpyrotic"…
We show that curvature perturbations acquire a scale invariant spectrum for any constant equation of state, provided the fluid has a suitably time-dependent sound speed. In order for modes to exit the physical horizon, and in order to solve…
We propose a mechanism to generate a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations about a stable, ekpyrotic background. The key ingredient is a coupling between a single ekpyrotic field and a perfect fluid of…
Employing the covariant formalism, we derive the evolution equations for two scalar fields with non-canonical field space metric up to third order in perturbation theory. These equations can be used to derive predictions for local bi- and…
Cosmological perturbations, originating in the quantum fluctuations of the fields that drive inflation, are observed to be nearly scale invariant at the largest scales. At smaller scales, however, perturbations are not severely constrained…
In Pre-Big-Bang and in Ekpyrotic Cosmology, perturbations on cosmological scales today are generated from quantum vacuum fluctuations during a phase when the Universe is contracting (viewed in the Einstein frame). The backgrounds studied to…
We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we…
We analyze the non-gaussian density perturbations generated in ekpyrotic/cyclic models based on heterotic M-theory. In this picture, two scalar fields produce nearly scale-invariant entropic perturbations during an ekpyrotic phase that are…
We examine the processes of quantum squeezing and decoherence of density perturbations produced during a slowly contracting ekpyrotic phase in which entropic perturbations are converted to curvature perturbations before the bounce to an…
If cosmic inflation suffered tiny time-dependent deviations from the slow-roll regime, these would induce the existence of small scale-dependent features imprinted in the primordial spectra, with their shapes and sizes revealing information…
Non-linear interactions during inflation generate non-Gaussianities in the distribution of primordial curvature. In many theories, the physics is scale-invariant, such that the induced three-point function depends solely on a dimensionless…