Related papers: Observational constraints on quantum decoherence d…
We investigate quantum decoherence in a class of models which interpolates between expanding (inflation) and contracting (ekpyrosis) scenarios. For the cases which result in a scale-invariant power spectrum, we find that ekpyrotic universes…
We study the inflationary quantum-to-classical transition for the adiabatic curvature perturbation $\zeta$ due to quantum decoherence, focusing on the role played by squeezed-limit mode couplings. We evolve the quantum state $\Psi$ in the…
We study the implications of deformed quantum algebras for the generation of primordial perturbations from slow-roll inflation. Specifically, we assume that the quantum commutator of the inflaton's amplitude and momentum in Fourier space…
The fluctuations in the inflaton field at the end of inflation which seed the density perturbations are prepared in a pure quantum state. It is generally assumed that some physics causes this pure state to decohere so that it should be…
The observed power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is consistent with inflationary cosmology, which predicts a nearly scale-invariant power spectrum of quantum fluctuations of the inflaton field as they exit the Hubble…
In previous work, we developed a method for computing two-point correlators by decomposing the mode degrees of freedom into fast and slow components. Building on this framework, we present a numerical implementation to study the evolution…
We consider a quantum deformation of the wave equation on a cosmological background as a toy-model for possible trans-Planckian effects. We compute the power spectrum of scalar and tensor fluctuations for power-law inflation, and find a…
We compute the spectrum of cosmological perturbations in a scenario in which inflation is driven by radiation in a non-commutative space-time. In this scenario, the non-commutativity of space and time leads to a modified dispersion relation…
According to the inflationary scenario for the very early Universe, all inhomogeneities in the Universe are of genuine quantum origin. On the other hand, looking at these inhomogeneities and measuring them, clearly no specific quantum…
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…
In this short note we consider the decoherence of the minisuperspace background degrees of freedom due to the long wavelength scalar and tensor perturbations becoming unobservable within the Born-Oppenheimer approach to the quantum gravity.…
Observations of the cosmic microwave sky are revealing the primordial non-uniformities from which all structure in the Universe grew. The only known physical mechanism for generating the inhomogeneities we see involves the amplification of…
We discuss the additional perturbation introduced during inflation by quantum stress tensor fluctuations of a conformally invariant field such as the photon. We consider both a kinematical model, which deals only with the expansion…
Does the observable spectrum of cosmic fluctuations depend on detailed initial conditions? This addresses the question if the general inflationary paradigm is sufficient to predict within a given model the spectrum and amplitude of cosmic…
The physics of the inflationary universe requires the study of the out of equilibrium evolution of quantum fields in curved spacetime. We present the evolution for both the geometry and the matter (described by the quantum inflaton field)…
Slow-roll inflation can become eternal if the quantum variance of the inflaton field around its slowly rolling classical trajectory is converted into a distribution of classical spacetimes inflating at different rates, and if the variance…
Inflation in the early Universe is one of the most promising probes of gravity in the high-energy regime. However, observable scales give access to a limited window in the inflationary dynamics. In this essay, we argue that quantum…
To understand mechanisms leading to inflation and late acceleration of the Universe it is important to see how one or a set of quantum fields may evolve such that the classical energy-momentum tensor behave similar to a cosmological…
We compute the rate with which unobserved fields decohere other fields to which they couple, both in flat space and in de Sitter space, for spectator scalar fields prepared in their standard adiabatic vacuum. The process is very efficient…
We show how the quantum to classical transition of the cosmological fluctuations produced during inflation can be described by means of the influence functional and the master equation. We split the inflaton field into the system-field…