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arXiv · hep-th/0601203

A graceful entrance to braneworld inflation

Abstract

Positively-curved, oscillatory universes have recently been shown to have important consequences for the pre-inflationary dynamics of the early universe. In particular, they may allow a self-interacting scalar field to climb up its potential during a very large number of these cycles. The cycles are naturally broken when the potential reaches a critical value and the universe begins to inflate, thereby providing a `graceful entrance' to early universe inflation. We study the dynamics of this behaviour within the context of braneworld scenarios which exhibit a bounce from a collapsing phase to an expanding one. The dynamics can be understood by studying a general class of braneworld models that are sourced by a scalar field with a constant potential. Within this context, we determine the conditions a given model must satisfy for a graceful entrance to be possible in principle. We consider the bouncing braneworld model proposed by Shtanov and Sahni and show that it exhibits the features needed to realise a graceful entrance to inflation for a wide region of parameter space.

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BibTeXRIS

James E. Lidsey, David J. Mulryne. 2006-01-27. A graceful entrance to braneworld inflation. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.73.083508

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