An official website of the United States government
In this paper, we systematically study the evolution of the Universe within the framework of a modified loop quantum cosmological model (mLQC-I) using various inflationary potentials, including chaotic, Starobinsky, generalized Starobinsky, polynomials of the first and second kinds, generalized T-models and natural inflation. In all these models, the big bang singularity is replaced by a quantum bounce, and the evolution of the Universe, both before and after the bounce, is universal and weakly dependent on the inflationary potentials, as long as the evolution is dominated by the kinetic energy of the inflaton at the bounce. In particular, the pre-bounce evolution can be universally divided into three different phases: pre-bouncing, pre-transition, and pre-de Sitter. The pre-bouncing phase occurs immediately before the quantum bounce, during which the evolution of the Universe is dominated by the kinetic energy of the inflaton. Thus, the equation of state of the inflaton is about one, w(ϕ)≃1. Soon, the inflation potential takes over, so w(ϕ) rapidly falls from one to negative one. This pre-transition phase is very short and quickly turns into the pre-de Sitter phase, whereby the effective cosmological constant of Planck size takes over and dominates the rest of the contracting phase. Throughout the entire pre-bounce regime, the evolution of both the expansion factor and the inflaton can be approximated by universal analytical solutions, independent of the specific inflation potentials.
more »
« less
Recalculating Total Number of e-folds in Loop Quantum Cosmology in View of Generalized Reheating
In loop quantum cosmology, the slow-roll inflation is generic, and when the kinetic energy of the scalar field dominates at the bounce, the evolution of the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker universe will go through three distinguishable epochs, bouncing, transition, and finally slow-roll inflation, before the reheating commences. The bouncing dynamics are insensitive of the potential and initial conditions, so that the expansion factor and the scalar field can be described uniquely by a universal solution during this epoch. After about 105 Planck time, the epoch of transition starts and the universe rapidly turns over from the kinetic energy dominated state to the potential energy dominated one, whereby the slow-roll inflationary phase begins. In this paper, we consider the power law plateau potential and study the pre-inflationary cosmology for different sets of initial conditions, so that during the slow-roll inflation epoch enough e-folds will be produced. Considering the generalized reheating and comparing with the recent Planck 2018 data, we are able to constrain the total number of e-folds (NT) from the bounce till today to be consistent with the current observable universe. Depending on the matter driving the reheating (subject to the different dominant equations of states), we report the observationally allowed NT and reheating temperature and find in particular NT≃127, which is significantly different from the one NT≳141 obtained previously without considering the reheating phase.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2308845
- PAR ID:
- 10569136
- Publisher / Repository:
- Cornell University
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- arXivorg
- ISSN:
- 2331-8422
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
We study a multi-field model in Loop Quantum Cosmology for a maximally symmetric spacetime governed by the Einstein--Hilbert action minimally coupled to scalar fields. Using a Legendre transformation, we formulate the Hamiltonian dynamics in canonically equivalent geometrodynamical and Yang--Mills--type representations, incorporating nontrivial couplings through a geometric structure on the multi-field configuration space. Implementing the μ¯-scheme polymerization, we obtain the loop-quantum-corrected Friedmann equations. By focusing on the two-field model as an example, we analyze the effective dynamics for specific potentials. The quantum bouncing, transition, and slow-roll inflationary phases are investigated numerically, and viability of the models is assessed by evaluating the number of e-folds during the inflationary phase for certain given initial conditions. The global behavior of the background evolution is further examined through linear stability and dynamical-systems analyses.more » « less
-
We investigate Power-Law Plateau (PLP) inflation in standard gravity and its consistency with ACT DR6 data. While many inflationary models, including the Starobinsky inflation, are disfavored by ACT observations, the PLP potential remains viable across a broad range of its parameters. Then, the dynamics of the reheating phase are investigated, where we mainly focus on the reheating temperature and its relationship with the inflationary phase and primordial gravitational waves. Incorporating the overproduction of the primordial gravitational waves can affect the effective number of relativistic species during the bounce. The constraint data on ΔNeff can impose a lower bound on the reheating temperature. This constraint will be more efficient for a stiff equation of state. It is determined that for ωre>0.58, this constraint would be efficient. Combining the result of the reheating temperature and the inflationary phase, it is concluded that to have both a viable result standing in 1σ of ACT DR6 and also to satisfy the reheating lower bound, the total number of e-folds during the inflationary phase should be Nk≲62. Higher e-folds of expansion result in a reheating temperature below the bound, which is disfavored. Finally, for the constraint values of the reheating temperature, the energy spectrum of the gravitational waves has been explored. The results indicate that there is a higher chance of detection for lower reheating temperatures and higher reheating equation of state.more » « less
-
In bouncing cosmological models, either classical or quantum, the big bang singularity is replaced by a regular bounce. A challenging question in such models is how to keep the shear under control in the contracting phase, as it is well-known that the shear grows as fast as 1/a6 toward the bounce, where a is the average expansion factor of the universe. A common approach is to introduce a scalar field with an ekpyrotic-like potential which becomes negative near the bounce, so the effective equation of state of the scalar field will be greater than one, whereby it dominates the shear in the bounce region. As a result, a homogeneous and isotropic universe can be produced after the bounce. In this paper, we study how the ekpyrotic mechanism affects the inflationary phase in both loop quantum cosmology (LQC) and a modified loop quantum cosmological model (mLQC-I), because in these frameworks inflation is generic without such a mechanism. After numerically studying various cases in which the potential of the inflaton consists of two parts, an inflationary potential and an ekpyrotic-like one, we find that, despite the fact that the influence is significant, by properly choosing the free parameters involved in the models, the ekpyrotic-like potential dominates in the bounce region, during which the effective equation of state is larger than one, so the shear problem is resolved. As the time continuously increases after the bounce, the inflationary potential grows and ultimately becomes dominant, resulting in an inflationary phase. This phase can last long enough to solve the cosmological problems existing in the big bang model.more » « less
-
In bouncing cosmological models, either classical or quantum, the big bang singularity is replaced by a regular bounce. A challenging question in such models is how to keep the shear under control in the contracting phase, as it is well-known that the shear grows as fast as 1/a6 toward the bounce, where a is the average expansion factor of the universe. A common approach is to introduce a scalar field with an ekpyrotic-like potential which becomes negative near the bounce, so the effective equation of state of the scalar field will be greater than one, whereby it dominates the shear in the bounce region. As a result, a homogeneous and isotropic universe can be produced after the bounce. In this paper, we study how the ekpyrotic mechanism affects the inflationary phase in both loop quantum cosmology (LQC) and a modified loop quantum cosmological model (mLQC-I), because in these frameworks inflation is generic without such a mechanism. After numerically studying various cases in which the potential of the inflaton consists of two parts, an inflationary potential and an ekpyrotic-like one, we find that, despite the fact that the influence is significant, by properly choosing the free parameters involved in the models, the ekpyrotic-like potential dominates in the bounce region, during which the effective equation of state is larger than one, so the shear problem is resolved. As the time continuously increases after the bounce, the inflationary potential grows and ultimately becomes dominant, resulting in an inflationary phase. This phase can last long enough to solve the cosmological problems existing in the big bang model.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- The DOI is not currently available.
