# Flows into inflation: An effective field theory approach

Azhar, Feraz and Kaiser, David I. (2018) Flows into inflation: An effective field theory approach. Physical Review D, 98 (6).

 Preview
Text
azhar+kaiser_18_vAccepted.pdf

## Abstract

We analyze the flow into inflation for generic "single-clock" systems, by combining an effective field theory approach with a dynamical-systems analysis. In this approach, we construct an expansion for the potential-like term in the effective action as a function of time, rather than specifying a particular functional dependence on a scalar field. We may then identify fixed points in the effective phase space for such systems, order-by-order, as various constraints are placed on the Mth time derivative of the potential-like function. For relatively simple systems, we find significant probability for the background spacetime to flow into an inflationary state, and for inflation to persist for at least 60 efolds. Moreover, for systems that are compatible with single-scalar-field realizations, we find a single, universal functional form for the effective potential, $V(\phi)$, which is similar to the well-studied potential for power-law inflation. We discuss the compatibility of such dynamical systems with observational constraints.

 Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
 Social Networking:

Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Azhar, Ferazferaz_azhar@fas.harvard.edu
Kaiser, David I.dikaiser@mit.edu
Keywords: Cosmic inflation, effective field theories, dynamical systems
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology
Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
Depositing User: Dr. Feraz Azhar
Date Deposited: 17 Oct 2018 01:18
Item ID: 15158
Journal or Publication Title: Physical Review D
Publisher: American Physical Society
Official URL: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/Phys...
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1103/PhysRevD.98.063515
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology
Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
Date: 13 September 2018
Volume: 98
Number: 6
URI: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15158