Related papers: Null Energy Condition Violations in Eternal Inflat…
We propose a novel scenario in which scalar perturbations, that seed the large scale structure of the Universe, are generated without relying on a scalar field (the inflaton). In this framework, inflation is driven by a de Sitter space-time…
We show that Lorentzian (traversable) wormholes and time machines with semi-classical spacetimes are unstable due to their violation of the null energy condition (NEC). Semi-classicality of the energy-momentum tensor in a given quantum…
The conventional slow-roll approximation is broken in the so-called "ultra slow-roll" models of inflation, for which the inflaton potential is exactly (or extremely) flat. The interesting nature of (canonical) ultra slow-roll inflation is…
We compute the spectrum of cosmological perturbations in a scenario in which inflation is driven by radiation in a non-commutative space-time. In this scenario, the non-commutativity of space and time leads to a modified dispersion relation…
We study the effective energy-momentum tensor (EMT) for cosmological perturbations and formulate the gravitational back-reaction problem in a gauge invariant manner. We analyze the explicit expressions for the EMT in the cases of scalar…
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)…
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…
The averaged null energy conditions (ANEC) states that, along a complete null curve, the negative energy fluctuations of a quantum field must be balanced by positive energy fluctuations. We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to prove the ANEC…
Recently, a de-Sitter epoch has been found in the new model of loop quantum cosmology which is governed by the scalar constraint with both of Euclidean and Lorentz terms. The singularity free bounce in the new LQC model and the emergent…
The stability of de Sitter metric in spacetimes where inflaton fields are non-minimally coupled to propagating torsion is investigated. It is shown that the de Sitter background metric is unstable against small perturbations. Axionic…
A remarkable prediction of the Standard Model is that, in the absence of corrections lifting the energy density, the Higgs potential becomes negative at large field values. If the Higgs field samples this part of the potential during…
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 propose an inflationary scenario inspired by a recent formulation, in terms of coherent states, of non-commutative quantum field theory. We consider the semiclassical Einstein equations, and we exploit the ultraviolet finiteness of the…
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…
We study the effects of explicit spacetime-symmetry breaking on primordial tensor fluctuations using an effective-field theory for Lorentz/CPT violation. We find that the graviton is still massless, but that the propagation speed of tensor…
An inflationary model in the framework of noncommutative space-time may generate a nontrivial running of the scalar spectral index, but usually induces a large tensor-to-scalar ratio simultaneously. With the latest observational data from…
The physics of de Sitter space is essential to our understanding of our cosmological past, present, and future. It forms the foundation for the statistical predictions of inflation in terms of quantum vacuum fluctuations that are being…
Slow-roll inflation can become eternal if the quantum variance of the inflaton field around its slowly rolling classical trajectory is converted into a distribution of classical spacetimes inflating at different rates, and if the variance…
We investigate the condition for eternal inflation to take place in the noncommutative spacetime. We find that the possibility for eternal inflation's happening is greatly suppressed in this case. If eternal inflation cannot happen in the…
Observations of the cosmic microwave background do not yet determine whether inflation was driven by a slowly-rolling scalar field or involved another physical mechanism. In this paper we discuss the prospects of using the power spectra of…