Inflation with generalized initial conditions
Abstract
In many current models of the early Universe a scalar field \ensuremath{\varphi} which is only very weakly coupled to other quantum fields is used to generate inflation. In such models there are no forces which could thermalize the scalar field, and previous assumptions about its preinflation ``initial'' conditions must be abandoned. In this paper the onset of inflation is studied classically for more general initial conditions of the scalar field configuration. In particular, initial conditions with a nonvanishing spatial average of \ensuremath{\varphi}, with \ensuremath{\varphi} chosen at random in each initial horizon volume, and with random initial momenta are considered. We identify and discuss several mechanisms that can drive these more general initial conditions toward an inflationary state. The analysis is done in one spatial dimension.
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In order for inflation to begin, there must be a region that is smooth, dominated by potential energy, and of radius L_I larger than H^{-1}_I.
“In order for inflation to begin, there must be a region that is smooth, dominated by potential energy, and of radius L I larger than H -1 I [46, 47, 48, 49].”
From Spontaneous inflation and the origin of the arrow of time (2004) · cites this paper as [47]
Cites
Cosmology for Grand Unified Theories with Radiatively Induced Symmetry Breaking
Albrecht, A., & Steinhardt, P. J. (1982) · Physical Review Letters · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.48.1220 · Cited by 4,981 · see citing works
Self-citationSupercooled phase transitions in the very early universe
Hawking, S. W., & Moss, I. L. (1982) · Physics Letters B · doi:10.1016/0370-2693(82)90946-7 · Cited by 816 · see citing works
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Initial conditions for inflation
Goldwirth, D. S., & Piran, T. (1992) · Physics Reports · doi:10.1016/0370-1573(92)90073-9 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Spontaneous inflation and the origin of the arrow of time
Carroll, S. M., & Chen, J. (2004) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/0410270 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
- Authors
- Albrecht, A., Brandenberger, R., & Matzner, R.
- Affiliations
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Venue
- Physical Review D
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Published
- 1987-01-15
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 429-434
- ISSN
- 0556-2821 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2069987878
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 9.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- 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
- inflation (cosmology), random initial conditions, thermalization, early universe
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