Related papers: What is the shape of the initial state?
Early universe equations of state including realistic interactions between constituents are built up. Under certain reasonable assumptions, these equations are able to generate an inflationary regime prior to the nucleosynthesis period. The…
We investigate a nonsingular initial state of the Universe which leads to inflation naturally. The model is described by a scalar field with a quadratic potential in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. The curvature of this initial…
A formula for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations having any initial conditions in inflation is obtained. Based on the physical conditions before inflation, the possibility exists that the initial state of scalar perturbations is…
We review how initial state effects generically yield an oscillatory component in the primordial power spectrum of inflationary density perturbations. These oscillatory corrections parametrize unknown new physics at a scale $M$ and are…
In the framework of Inflationary theory, the assumption that the quantum state of the perturbations is a non-vacuum state leads to a difficulty: non-vacuum initial states imply, in general, a large energy density of inflaton field quanta,…
We discuss the challenges of motivating, constructing, and quantizing a canonically normalized inflationary perturbation in spatially curved universes. We show that this has historically proved challenging due to the interaction of…
Determining the initial state of the universe is a challenging problem in quantum cosmology and we argue that the issue is intractable if the basic postulates of quantum mechanics are not modified in a nontrivial way. Namely a "standard"…
We study the analytic structure of in-in correlation functions in a deSitter background. The aim of this study is to probe the initial conditions for inflation through the features of correlation functions of the field fluctuations, and…
How well can we constrain the initial quantum state of metric perturbations sourced during inflation? We exhibit an interesting new class of quantum states that entangle the scalar metric perturbations {\zeta} with other fields such as…
The observable universe is fundamentally inhomogeneous and anisotropic. Quantum description of the generation of these inhomogeneities and anisotropies is ill-understood and unsatisfactory. After providing a brief account of the standard…
We consider the description of cosmological dynamics from the onset of inflation by a perfect fluid whose parameters must be consistent with the strength of the enhanced quantum loop effects that can arise during inflation. The source of…
A short introduction to structure formation is given, followed by a discussion of the possible characteristics of the initial perturbations assuming a generic inflationary origin. Observational data related to large-scale structure and the…
Inflation provides a natural mechanism to account for the origin of cosmic structures. The generation of primordial inhomogeneities during inflation can be understood via the spontaneous creation of quanta from the vacuum. We show that when…
The particle production process is reviewed, through which cosmic inflation can produce a scale invariant superhorizon spectrum of perturbations of suitable fields starting from their quantum fluctuations. Afterwards, in the context of the…
A short inflationary phase may not erase all traces of the primordial universe. Associated observables include both spatial curvature and "anomalies" in the microwave background or large scale structure. The present curvature $\Omega_{K,0}$…
According to the inflationary scenario of cosmology, all structure in the Universe can be traced back to primordial fluctuations during an accelerated (inflationary) phase of the very early Universe. A conceptual problem arises due to the…
If time-dependent disruptions from slow-roll occur during inflation, the correlation functions of the primordial curvature perturbation should have scale-dependent features, a case which is marginally supported from the cosmic microwave…
The pre-big bang scenario describes the evolution of the Universe from an initial state approaching the flat, cold, empty, string perturbative vacuum. The choice of such an initial state is suggested by the present state of our Universe if…
A proposal is made for the quantum state of the universe that has an initial state that is macroscopically time symmetric about a homogeneous, isotropic bounce of extremal volume and that at that bounce is microscopically in the ground…
In this work we study the imprints of bubble nucleation on primordial inflationary perturbations. We assume that the bubble is formed via the tunneling of a spectator field from the false vacuum of its potential to its true vacuum. We…