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Cited by 5Cosmology and Gravitation TheoriesNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity TheoriesBlack Holes and Theoretical Physics

Energy conditions allow eternal inflation

Open access
Kontou, Eleni-Alexandra, Olum, Ken D.·2021·Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2021/03/097
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Abstract

Eternal inflation requires upward fluctuations of the energy in a Hubble volume, which appear to violate the energy conditions. In particular, a scalar field in an inflating spacetime should obey the averaged null energy condition, which seems to rule out eternal inflation. Here we show how eternal inflation is possible when energy conditions (even the null energy condition) are obeyed. The critical point is that energy conditions restrict the evolution of any single quantum state, while the process of eternal inflation involves repeatedly selecting a subsector of the previous state, so there is no single state where the conditions are violated.

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Crossref · 10.1088/1475-7516/2021/03/097

Cites

21 of 21 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The strong energy condition seems to be violated at the largest cosmological scales.

    “However, SEC seems to be violated at the largest cosmological scales [50-54].”

    From Alcubierre warp drive in spherical coordinates with some matter configurations (2023) · cites this paper as [54]

    Section 1.1 discusses inflation and the null energy condition, while the Conclusion says eternal inflation can proceed without violating that condition. Neither passage addresses whether the strong energy condition is violated at the largest cosmological scales; searches for SEC and cosmological-scale violation found no such statement in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.74)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. S. Winitzki, Null energy condition violations in eternal inflation, In 5th International Conference on Particle Physics and the Early Universe (COSMO 2001) Rovaniemi, Finland, August 30 -September 4, 2001.
  2. T. Vachaspati, Eternal inflation and energy conditions in de sitter space-time, In Cosmic inflation. Proceedings, Meeting, Davis, U.S.A., March 22-25, 2003.
  3. T.S. Bunch and P.C.W. Davies. Quantum Field Theory in de Sitter Space: Renormalization by Point Splitting, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 360 (1978) 117. · DOI
  4. T.-P. Hack, Algebraic quantum field theory on curved spacetimes, in Cosmological Applications of Algebraic Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetimes, Springer International Publishing (2015), pp. 13-75, [DOI]. JCAP03(2021)097 · DOI
  5. N.D. Birrell, The application of adiabatic regularization to calculations of cosmological interest, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 361 (1978) 513. · DOI · Paper page

Cited by

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Authors
Kontou, E.-A., & Olum, K. D.
Affiliations
  • College of the Holy Cross (US)
  • Tufts University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Published
2021-03-01
Volume
2021
Issue
03
Pages
097
ISSN
  • 1475-7508 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-7516
DOI
10.1088/1475-7516/2021/03/097
OpenAlex
W3047445578
Cited by
5
References
21
Citations by year
2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1
FWCI
0.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
European Commission (HORIZON2020, 744037)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
Keywords
eternal inflation, energy conditions, averaged null energy condition, null energy condition, scalar field, quantum state evolution, quantum state selection

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