Related papers: A smooth bouncing cosmology with scale invariant s…
In bouncing cosmology, the primordial fluctuations are generated in a cosmic contraction phase before the bounce into the current expansion phase. For a nonsingular bounce, curvature and anisotropy grow rapidly during the bouncing phase,…
Ekpyrotic bouncing cosmologies have been proposed as alternatives to inflation. In these scenarios, the universe is smoothed and flattened during a period of slow contraction preceding the bounce while quantum fluctuations generate nearly…
Bouncing cosmologies, suggested by String/M-theory, may provide an alternative to standard inflation to account for the origin of inhomogeneities in our universe. The fundamental question regards the correct way to evolve the scalar…
Massless scalar fields originating in a quantum vacuum state acquire a scale-invariant spectrum of fluctuations in a matter-dominated contracting universe. We show that these isocurvature fluctuations transfer to a scale-invariant spectrum…
We derive all single-field cosmologies with unit sound speed that generate scale invariant curvature perturbations on a dynamical attractor background. We identify three distinct phases: slow-roll inflation; a slowly contracting adiabatic…
Bouncing cosmologies offer an alternative to inflation by resolving the initial singularity through a contracting phase followed by a bounce into expansion. In many such models, the contracting phase is dominated by a single matter…
Bouncing models of cosmology, as they arise e.g. in loop quantum cosmology, can be followed by an inflationary phase and generate close-to-scale-invariant fluctuation spectra as observed in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). However,…
A `bouncing' cosmological model is proposed in the context of a Weyl-invariant scalar-tensor (WIST) theory of gravity. In addition to being Weyl-invariant the theory is U(1)-symmetric and has a conserved global charge. The entire cosmic…
In this paper, we present a new scenario of the early Universe that contains a pre big bang Ekpyrotic phase. By combining this with a ghost condensate, the theory explicitly violates the null energy condition without developing any…
We present a novel theory of the very early universe which addresses the traditional horizon and flatness problems of big bang cosmology and predicts a scale invariant spectrum of perturbations. Unlike inflation, this scenario requires no…
We study cosmological perturbations produced by the most general two-derivative actions involving two scalar fields, coupled to Einstein gravity, with an arbitrary field space metric, that admit scaling solutions. For contracting universes,…
Cosmological models with inflation and those with bounce have their own strengths and weaknesses. Here we construct a model in which a phase of bounce is followed by a viable inflationary phase. This incorporates several advantages of both…
We propose a mechanism borrowed from string theory which yields a non-singular transition from a phase of Ekpyrotic contraction to the expanding phase of Standard Big Bang cosmology. The same mechanism converts the initial vacuum spectrum…
We perform a detailed investigation of the simplest possible cosmological model in which a bounce can occur, namely that where the dynamics is led by a simple massive scalar field in a general self-interacting potential and a background…
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…
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…
A bouncing cosmology with an initial matter-dominated phase of contraction during which scales which are currently probed with cosmological observations exit the Hubble radius provides a mechanism alternative to inflation for producing a…
We investigate non-singular bounce realizations in the framework of ghost-free generalized Galileon cosmology, which furthermore can be free of the anisotropy problem. Considering an Ekpyrotic-like potential we can obtain a total…
We study a contracting universe composed of cold dark matter and radiation, and with a positive cosmological constant. As is well known from standard cosmological perturbation theory, under the assumption of initial quantum vacuum…
The Pre-Big Bang cosmology inspired generations of cosmologists in attempts to cure the initial Big Bang singularity using a fundamental length scale as proposed by String Theory. The existence of a phase of collapse/inflation with…