Related papers: Quantum initial conditions for curved inflating un…
We propose a method to extract predictions from quantum cosmology for inflation that can be confronted with observations. Employing the tunneling boundary condition in quantum geometrodynamics, we derive a probability distribution for the…
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…
In this thesis, we discuss several instances in which non-linear behaviour affects cosmological evolution in the early Universe. We begin by reviewing the standard cosmological model and the tools used to understand it theoretically and to…
We consider the mixed inflaton-curvaton scenario in which quantum fluctuations of the curvaton field during inflation lead to a relatively large curvature perturbation spectrum at small scales. We use the model of chaotic inflation with…
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…
Cosmological inflation remains to be a unique mechanism of generation of plausible initial conditions in the early universe. In particular, it generates the primordial quasiclassical perturbations with power spectrum determined by the…
We contrast the possibility of inflation starting a) from the universe's inception or b) from an earlier non-inflationary state. Neither case is ideal since a) assumes quantum mechanical reasoning is straightforwardly applicable to the…
Inflationary cosmology has become one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology. Inflation was the first theory within which it was possible to make predictions about the structure of the Universe on large scales, based on causal physics. The…
We present a new approach to constructing inflationary models in closed universes. Conformal embedding of closed-universe models in a de Sitter background suggests a quantisation condition on the available conformal time. This condition…
Quantum field theory, which is generally used to describe the origin of large-scale gravitational perturbations during cosmic inflation, has been shown to omit an important physical effect in curved space-time, the nonlocal entanglement…
It is widely believed that quantum field fluctuation in an inflating background creates the primeval seed perturbation which through subsequent evolution leads to the observed large scale structure of the universe. The standard inflationary…
Positively-curved, oscillatory universes are studied within the context of Loop Quantum Cosmology subject to a consistent semi-classical treatment. The semi-classical effects are reformulated in terms of an effective phantom fluid with a…
In physical theories, boundary or initial conditions play the role of selecting special situations which can be described by a theory with its general laws. Cosmology has long been suspected to be different in that its fundamental theory…
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…
The formalism to treat quantization and evolution of cosmological perturbations of multiple fluids is described. We first construct the Lagrangian for both the gravitational and matter parts, providing the necessary relevant variables and…
Cosmic inflation is arguably the most favoured paradigm of the very early Universe. It postulates an early phase of fast, nearly exponential, and accelerated expansion. Inflationary models are capable of explaining the overall flatness and…
We discuss applications of perturbative quantum gravity in the theory of very early quantum Universe and quantum cosmology. Consistency of the theoretical formalism for quantum effects of matter and correspondence with observational status…
We study the evolution of various measures of quantumness of the curvature perturbation by integrating out the inaccessible entropic fluctuations in the multi-field models of inflation. In particular, we discuss the following measures of…
We consider a perfectly homogeneous and isotropic universe which undergoes a sudden phase transition. If the transition produces topological defects, which we assume, perturbations in the geometry and the cosmic fluid also suddenly appear.…
The perturbations in the early universe are generated as a result of the interplay between quantum field theory and gravitation. Since these primordial perturbations lead to the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and eventually…