Non-Perturbative Models For The Quantum Gravitational Back-Reaction On Inflation

Abstract

We consider a universe in which inflation commences because of a positive cosmological constant, the effect of which is progressively screened by the interaction between virtual gravitons that become trapped in the expansion of spacetime. Perturbative calculations have shown that screening becomes non-perturbatively large at late times. In this paper we consider effective field equations which can be evolved numerically to provide a non-perturbative description of the process. The induced stress tensor is that of an effective scalar field which is a non-local functional of the metric. We use the known perturbative result, constrained by general principles and guided by a physical description of the screening mechanism, to formulate a class of ansatze for this functional. A scheme is given for numerically evolving the field equations which result from a simple ansatz, from the beginning of inflation past the time when it ends. We find that inflation comes to a sudden end, producing a system whose equation of state rapidly approaches that of radiation. Explicit numerical results are presented.