Related papers: Eternal inflation and energy conditions in de Sitt…
The usual scenario of ``eternal inflation'' involves an approximately de Sitter spacetime undergoing upward fluctuations of the local expansion rate $H$. This spacetime requires frequent violations of the Null Energy Condition (NEC). We…
Eternal inflation requires upward fluctuations of the energy in a Hubble volume, which appear to violate the energy conditions. In particular, a scalar field in an inflating spacetime should obey the averaged null energy condition, which…
Eternal inflation, the idea that there is always a part of the universe that is expanding exponentially, is a frequent feature of inflationary models. It has been argued that eternal inflation requires the violation of energy conditions,…
We introduce a novel correlation, $n_s$ - $\Delta N$, connecting CMB parameters to the required total e-folds for eternal inflation. This correlation provides a robust tool for evaluating eternal (string) inflation models using CMB data and…
We show that in any model of non-eternal inflation satisfying the null energy condition, the area of the de Sitter horizon increases by at least one Planck unit in each inflationary e-folding. This observation gives an operational meaning…
The violation of the null energy condition (NEC) may play a crucial role in enabling a scalar field to climb over high potential barriers, potentially significant in the very early universe. We propose a single-field model where the…
Primordial null energy condition (NEC) violation would imprint a blue-tilted spectrum on gravitational wave background (GWB). However, its implications on the GWB might be far richer than expected. We present a scenario, in which after a…
The empty space (with no matter fields) is not really empty because of natural metric fluctuations, quantum and classical. We show that gravitons as well as classical gravitational waves of super-horizon wavelengths are able to form the de…
In pursuing the intriguing resemblance of the Einstein equations to thermodynamic equations, most sharply seen in systems possessing horizons, we suggest that eternal inflation of the stochastic type may be a fruitful phenomenon to explore.…
We consider how accelerated expansion, whether due to inflation or dark energy, imposes strong constraints on fundamental theories obtained by compactification from higher dimensions. For theories that obey the null energy condition (NEC),…
In generic models of cosmological inflation, quantum fluctuations strongly influence the spacetime metric and produce infinitely many regions where the end of inflation (reheating) is delayed until arbitrarily late times. The geometry of…
We construct analytic and numerical solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation that arises in the context of stochastic inflation. We use these solutions to derive necessary conditions for eternal inflation on the higher derivatives of the…
The inflationary paradigm has transformed our understanding of the early universe; yet most inflationary models are considered geodesically past-incomplete, suggesting a beginning of time or a primordial Big Bang singularity. The…
It is shown that the de Sitter state is invariant with respect to Wick rotation. In imaginary time, super- horizon quantum and classical metric fluctuations of the empty FLRW space (with no matter fields) form a self-consistent de Sitter…
We consider the possibility of a past and future eternal universe, constructing geodesically complete inflating, loitering, and bouncing spacetimes. We identify the constraints energy conditions in General Relativity place on the building…
Since the advent of inflation, several theorems have been proven suggesting that although inflation can (and generically does) continue eternally into the future, it cannot be extended eternally into the past to create a ``steady-state''…
The null energy condition (NEC) is a cornerstone of general relativity, and its violation could leave observable imprints in the cosmic gravitational wave spectrum. Theoretical models suggest that NEC violations during inflation can amplify…
A violation of the null energy condition (NEC) during inflation in a single-field inflation model will naturally enhance the amplitude of the parity violation effect (defined by $\Delta\chi$) of inflationary primordial gravitational waves…
Inflation and dark energy (DE), both featuring accelerated expansion, are crucial components of modern cosmology. As indicated by singularity theorems, null energy condition (NEC) violation is essential for resolving the initial singularity…
The Wheeler-DeWitt equation provides the probability distribution for the curvature perturbation, the gauge invariant quantum fluctuation of the inflaton. From this, we can find a tower of power spectra which is not found in a perturbative…