Related papers: Identification of perturbation modes and controver…
We address the perturbation power spectrum generated in the recently proposed ekpyrotic scenario by Khoury et al. The issue has been raised recently by Lyth who used the conventional method based on a conserved variable in the large-scale…
For bouncing cosmologies such as the ekpyrotic/cyclic scenarios we show that it is possible to make predictions for density perturbations which are independent of the details of the bouncing phase. This can be achieved, as in inflationary…
We study density perturbations in several cosmological models motivated by string theory. The evolution and the spectra of curvature perturbations ${\cal R}$ are analyzed in the Ekpyrotic scenario and nonsingular string cosmologies. We find…
We consider the ekpyrotic paradigm in the context of loop quantum cosmology. In loop quantum cosmology the classical big-bang singularity is resolved due to quantum gravity effects, and so the contracting ekpyrotic branch of the universe…
In the ekpyrotic scenario the Universe is initially collapsing, the energy density coming from a scalar field with a negative exponential potential. On the basis of a calculation ignoring the gravitational back-reaction the authors of the…
In this paper we study the evolution of cosmological perturbations through a nonsingular bouncing universe using covariant perturbation theory and examine the validity of linear perturbation theory. The bounce is modeled by a two component…
We analyze a general mechanism for producing a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological curvature perturbations during a contracting phase preceding a big bang, that can be entirely described using 4d effective field theory. The…
By considering a simplified but exact model for realizing the ekpyrotic scenario, we clarify various assumptions that have been used in the literature. In particular, we discuss the new ekpyrotic prescription for passing the perturbations…
The ekpyrotic and cyclic universe scenarios have revived the idea that the density perturbations apparent in today's universe could have been generated in a `pre-singularity' epoch before the big bang. These scenarios provide explicit…
The universe can be made flat and smooth by undergoing a phase of ultra-slow (ekpyrotic) contraction, a condition achievable with a single, canonical scalar field and conventional general relativity. It has been argued, though, that…
A scale-invariant spectrum of isocurvature perturbations is generated during collapse in the ekpyrotic scaling solution in models where multiple fields have steep negative exponential potentials. The scale invariance of the spectrum is…
We present a nonsingular bouncing cosmology using single scalar field matter with non-trivial potential and non-standard kinetic term. The potential sources a dynamical attractor solution with Ekpyrotic contraction which washes out small…
We analyze the general conditions on the equation of state $w$ required for quantum fluctuations of a scalar field to produce a scale-invariant spectrum of density perturbations, including models which (in the four dimensional effective…
Cosmological perturbation theory fails in the new ekpyrotic and cyclic ekpyrotic scenarios, before the scale factor of the Universe reaches zero. As a result, a recently-proposed recipe for evolving the curvature perturbation through the…
A scale invariant spectrum of isocurvature perturbations is generated during collapse in the scaling solution in models where two or more fields have steep negative exponential potentials. The scale invariance of the spectrum is realised by…
We study the generation of density perturbations in the ekpyrotic scenario for the early universe, including gravitational backreaction. We expose interesting subtleties that apply to both inflationary and ekpyrotic models. Our analysis…
We consider the construction of nonsingular Pre-Big-Bang and Ekpyrotic type cosmological models realized by the addition to the action of specific higher-order terms stemming from quantum corrections. We study models involving general…
We show that curvature perturbations acquire a scale invariant spectrum for any constant equation of state, provided the fluid has a suitably time-dependent sound speed. In order for modes to exit the physical horizon, and in order to solve…
At low energy, the four-dimensional effective action of the ekpyrotic model of the universe is equivalent to a slightly modified version of the pre big bang model. We discuss cosmological perturbations in these models. In particular we…
We explicitly confirm that spatially flat non-singular bouncing cosmologies make sense as effective theories. The presence of a non-singular bounce in a spatially flat universe implies a temporary violation of the null energy condition,…