Related papers: Starting inflation from inhomogeneous initial cond…
Using numerical solutions of the full Einstein field equations coupled to a scalar inflaton field in 3+1 dimensions, we study the conditions under which a universe that is initially expanding, highly inhomogeneous and dominated by gradient…
While cosmological inflation can erase primordial inhomogeneities, it is possible that inflation may not begin in a significantly inhomogeneous universe. This issue is particularly pressing in multifield scenarios, where even the…
We consider the effects of inhomogeneous initial conditions in both the scalar field profile and the extrinsic curvature on different inflationary models. In particular, we compare the robustness of small field inflation to that of large…
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 study how the initial inhomogeneities of the universe affect the onset of inflation in the closed universe. We consider the model of a chaotic inflation which is driven by a massive scalar field. In order to construct an inhomogeneous…
Using a long wavelength iteration scheme to solve Einstein's equations near the Big-Bang singularity of a universe driven by a massive scalar field, we find how big initial quasi-isotropic inhomogeneities can be before they can prevent…
We analyze the onset of inflation for a simple single-field model when the system begins with significant inhomogeneities on length-scales shorter than the initial Hubble radius. We incorporate certain nonlinear interactions among the…
We consider the robustness of small-field inflation in the presence of scalar field inhomogeneities. Previous numerical work has shown that if the scalar potential is flat only over a narrow interval, such as in commonly considered…
In the context of inflationary models with a pre-inflationary stage, in which the Einstein equations are obeyed, the weak energy condition is satisfied, and spacetime topology is trivial, we argue that homogeneity on super-Hubble scales…
We consider the question of deriving initial conditions for scalar fields in driving both an early and late quintessence phase. The dark energy field presents an unresolved uniformity problem. Further difficulties with initial conditions…
We investigate the initiation of cosmic inflation, in full numerical relativity, from pre-inflationary scenarios with large tensor and vector fluctuations in the metric. These settings are characterized by having large values in the Weyl…
We propose a scenario of the beginning of inflation in which the non-vacuum value of the scalar field that drives inflation develops dynamically due to the non-minimal coupling to gravity. In this scenario, inflation emerges as an…
We study a generality of an inflationary scenario by integrating the Einstein equations numerically in a plane-symmetric spacetime. We consider the inhomogeneous spacetimes due to (i) localized gravitational waves with a positive…
The initial condition problem of inflation is examined from the perspective of both spacetime embedding and scalar field dynamics. The spacetime embedding problem is solved for arbitrary initial spatial curvature Omega, which generalizes…
We discuss the issue of setting appropriate initial conditions for inflation. Specifically, we consider natural inflation model and discuss the fine tuning required for setting almost homogeneous initial conditions over a region of order…
We use the 3+1 formalism of numerical relativity to investigate the robustness of Starobinsky and Higgs inflation to inhomogeneous initial conditions, in the form of either field gradient or kinetic energy density. Sub-Hubble and…
The homogeneous cosmological model in GR is proposed, where the vacuum energy, which can cause the inflation, is described by tensor field rather than by commonly used in inflationary scenarios scalar field. It is shown that if the initial…
I give a brief review of the status of research on the nature of initial conditions required to obtain a period of cosmological inflation. It is shown that there is good evidence that in the case of large field models, the inflationary…
We develop in this thesis the principles governing the production of our universe's primordial inhomogeneities during its early phase of inflation. As a guiding thread we ask what physics during inflation can lead to perturbations so large…
We address the issue of fine-tuning of the initial field configuration that can lead to hybrid inflation in the context of global supersymmetry. This problem is generated by the difference between the energy scale at which the Universe…