Related papers: Semiclassical Cosmological Perturbations Generated…
We examine from first principles one of the basic assumptions of modern quantum theories of structure formation in the early universe, i.e., the conditions upon which fluctuations of a quantum field may transmute into classical stochastic…
We analyze the thermal fluctuations of a free, conformally invariant, Maxwell quantum field (photon) interacting with a cosmological background spacetime, in the framework of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes and semiclassical and…
The continual production of long wavelength gravitons during primordial inflation endows graviton loop corrections with secular growth factors. During a prolonged period of inflation these factors eventually overwhelm the small…
The theory of cosmological perturbations has become a cornerstone of modern quantitative cosmology since it is the framework which provides the link between the models of the very early Universe such as the inflationary Universe scenario…
The possibility of thermally induced initial density perturbations in inflationary cosmology is examined. The fluctuation dynamics of a scalar field plus thermal bath system during slow roll is described by a Langevin-like equation.…
Following inflation, the Universe may pass through an early matter-dominated phase supported by the oscillating inflaton condensate. Initially small fluctuations in the condensate grow gravitationally on subhorizon scales and can collapse…
We propose a criterion for the validity of semiclassical gravity (SCG) which is based on the stability of the solutions of SCG with respect to quantum metric fluctuations. We pay special attention to the two-point quantum correlation…
Quantum gravitational back-reaction offers the potential of simultaneously resolving the problem of the cosmological constant and providing a natural model of inflation in which scalars play no special role. In this model inflation begins…
Transition to the semiclassical behaviour and the decoherence process for inhomogeneous perturbations generated from the vacuum state during an inflationary stage in the early Universe are considered both in the Heisenberg and the…
As part of our program to develop a general theory of relativity for open systems, we introduce a covariant theory that incorporates the effects of classical and quantum spacetime alterations in a new metric tensor that effectively includes…
We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations on large scales, up to second order, for a perfect fluid with generic equation of state. Taking advantage of super-horizon conservation laws, it is possible to follow the evolution of the…
In semiclassical gravity the back-reaction of the classical gravitational field interacting with quantum matter fields is described by the semiclassical Einstein equations. A criterion for the validity of semiclassical gravity based on the…
We clarify the way in which cosmological perturbations of quantum origin, produced during inflation, assume classical properties. Two features play an important role in this process: First, the dynamics of fluctuations which are presently…
We study inflationary dynamics using a recently introduced classical-quantum correspondence for investigating the backreaction of a quantum mechanical degree of freedom to a classical background. Using specifically a coupled…
A thermal squeezed state representation of inflaton is constructed for a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background metric and the phenomenon of particle creation is examined during the oscillatory phase of inflaton, in the semiclassical…
We review some perturbative results obtained in quantum gravity in an accelerating cosmological background. We then describe a class of non-local, purely gravitational models which have the correct structure to reproduce the leading…
This pedagogical review aims at presenting the fundamental aspects of the theory of inflationary cosmological perturbations of quantum-mechanical origin. The analogy with the well-known Schwinger effect is discussed in detail and a…
We consider the effects of the quantum stress tensor fluctuations of a conformal field in generating gravity waves in inflationary models. We find a non-scale invariant, non-Gaussian contribution which depends upon the total expansion…
We discuss the stability of semiclassical gravity solutions with respect to small quantum corrections by considering the quantum fluctuations of the metric perturbations around the semiclassical solution. We call the attention to the role…
It has recently been suggested that Planck scale physics may effect the evolution of cosmological fluctuations in the early stages of cosmological inflation in a non-trivial way, leading to an excited state for modes whose wavelength is…