Related papers: Probing the early universe with a generalized acti…
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)…
We consider quantization of the positive curvature Friedmann cosmology in the unimodular modification of Einstein's theory, in which the spacetime four-volume appears as an explicit time variable. The Hamiltonian admits self-adjoint…
The slow-roll inflation paradigm can be systematically generalized within the framework of non-standard entropy formalisms, giving rise to a broad class of inflationary models that deviate from the conventional Bekenstein--Hawking case. We…
Loop quantum cosmology is a symmetry-reduced application of loop quantum gravity. The theory predicts a bounce for the universe at the Planck scale and resolves the singularity of standard cosmology. The dynamics is also governed by an…
A quantum expansion parameter, analogous to the Hubble parameter in cosmology, is defined for a free particle quantum wavefunction. By considering the universe as an initial single Gaussian quantum wavepacket whose mass is that of…
Multiple field models of inflation exhibit new features than single field models. In this work, we study the hierarchy of parameters based on Hubble expansion rate in curved field space and derive the system of flow equations that describe…
We identify the effective theory describing inflationary super-Hubble scales and show it to be a special case of effective field theories appropriate to open systems. Open systems allow information to be exchanged between the degrees of…
Some recent studies based on numerical relativity simulations claim that slow contraction/ekpyrosis is strongly preferred over inflation as the smoothing mechanism that brought the universe into the homogeneous, isotropic and flat state we…
A model of cosmological inflation is proposed in which field space is a hyperbolic plane. The inflaton never slow-rolls, and instead orbits the bottom of the potential, buoyed by a centrifugal force. Though initial velocities redshift away…
The status of quantum cosmologies as testable models of the early universe is assessed in the context of inflation. While traditional Wheeler-DeWitt quantization is unable to produce sizable effects in the cosmic microwave background, the…
We show why the universe started in an unstable de Sitter state. The quantum origin of our universe implies one must take a `top down' approach to the problem of initial conditions in cosmology, in which the histories that contribute to the…
A macroscopic universe may emerge naturally from a Planck cell fluctuation by unfolding through a stage of exponential expansion towards a homogeneous cosmological background. Such primordial inflation requires a large and presumably…
We study the quantization of the Einstein-Hilbert action for a small true vacuum bubble without matter or scalar field. The quantization of action induces an extra term of potential called quantum potential in Hamilton-Jacobi equation,…
In most current models of inflation based on a weakly self-coupled scalar matter field minimally coupled to gravity, the period of inflation lasts so long that, at the beginning of the inflationary period, the physical wavelengths of…
According to the inflationary theory of cosmology, most elementary particles in the current universe were created during a period of reheating after inflation. In this work we self-consistently couple the Einstein-inflaton equations to a…
This thesis is dedicated to studying cosmological inflation, which is a period of accelerated expansion in the very early Universe that is required to explain the observed anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Inflation, when…
In the present work we study the consequences of considering an inflationary universe model in which the Hubble rate has a quasi-exponential dependence in the inflaton field, given by $H(\phi)=H_{inf}\exp…
The paradigm of the inflationary universe provides a possible explanation for several observed cosmological properties. In order for such solutions to be successful, the universe must convert the energy stored in the inflaton potential into…
Cosmological inflation is not the only early universe scenario consistent with current observational data. I will discuss the criteria for a successful early universe cosmology, compare a couple of the proposed scenarios (inflation,…
We calculate the time evolution of the expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor for a minimally-coupled massless scalar field in cosmological spacetimes, with an application to dark energy in mind. We first study the evolution from…