Bouncing models have been proposed by many authors as a completion, or even as an alternative to inflation for the description of the very early and dense Universe. However, most bouncing models contain a contracting phase from a very large and rarefied state, where dark energy might have had an important role as it has today in accelerating our large Universe. In that case, its presence can modify the initial conditions and evolution of cosmological perturbations, changing the known results already obtained in the literature concerning their amplitude and spectrum. In this paper, we assume the simplest and most appealing candidate for dark energy, the cosmological constant, and evaluate its influence on the evolution of cosmological perturbations during the contracting phase of a bouncing model, which also contains a scalar field with a potential allowing background solutions with pressure and energy density satisfying p = w*rho, w being a constant. An initial adiabatic vacuum state can be set at the end of domination by the cosmological constant, and an almost scale invariant spectrum of perturbations is obtained for w~0, which is the usual result for bouncing models. However, the presence of the cosmological constant induces oscillations and a running towards a tiny red-tilted spectrum for long wavelength perturbations.
Bouncing non-singular isotropic cosmological solutions are investigated in a simple model of scalar-tensor gravity. New families of such solutions are found and their properties are presented and analyzed using an effective potential as the main tool. Bouncing solutions are shown to exist for a Higgs-like self-interaction potential which is bounded from below, in contrast to previous solutions that appeared in the literature based on potentials which were unbounded from below. In the simplest version of a scalar field with the quartic potential and conformal coupling to gravity, bouncing spati…
In general, to avoid a singularity in cosmological models involves the introduction of exotic kind of matter fields, for example, a scalar field with negative energy density. In order to have a bouncing solution in classical General Relativity, violation of the energy conditions is required. In this work, we discuss a case of the bouncing solution in the Brans-Dicke theory with radiative fluid that obeys the energy conditions, and with no ghosts.
We introduce the "wedge diagram," an intuitive way to illustrate how cosmological models with a classical (non-singular) bounce generically resolve fundamental problems in cosmology. These include the well-known horizon, flatness, and inhomogeneity problems; the small tensor-to-scalar ratio observed in the cosmic microwave background; the low entropy at the beginning of a hot, expanding phase; and the avoidance of quantum runaway. The same diagrammatic approach can be used to compare with other cosmological scenarios.
In this paper, we show how the proper choice of gauge is critical in analyzing the stability of non-singular cosmological bounce solutions based on Horndeski theories. We show that it is possible to construct non-singular cosmological bounce solutions with classically stable behavior for all modes with wavelengths above the Planck scale where: (a) the solution involves a stage of null-energy condition violation during which gravity is described by a modification of Einstein's general relativity; and (b) the solution reduces to Einstein gravity both before and after the null-energy condition vi…
The observed temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background can be traced back to primordial curvature modes that are sourced by adiabatic and/or entropic matter perturbations. In this paper, we explore the entropic mechanism in the context of non-singular bouncing cosmologies. We show that curvature modes are naturally generated during `graceful exit,' i.e., when the smoothing slow contraction phase ends and the universe enters the bounce stage. Here, the key role is played by the kinetic energy components that come to dominate the energy density and drive the evolution towards t…
In this letter we point out the existence of solutions to General Relativity with a negative cosmological constant in four dimensions, which contain solitons as well as traversable wormholes. The latter connect two asymptotically locally AdS$_{4}$ spacetimes. At every constant value of the radial coordinate the spacetime is a spacelike warped AdS$_{3}$. We compute the dual energy momentum tensor at each boundary showing that it yields different results. We also show that these vacuum wormholes can have more than one throat and that they are indeed traversable by computing the time it takes for…
In the present work we present the full treatment of scalar and vector cosmological perturbations in a non-singular bouncing universe in the context of metric $f(R)$ cosmology. Scalar metric perturbations in $f(R)$ cosmology were previously calculated in the Jordan frame, in the present paper we successfully use the Einstein frame to calculate the scalar metric perturbations where the cosmological bounce takes place in the Jordan frame. The Einstein frame picture presented corrects and completes a previous calculation of scalar perturbations and adds new information. Behavior of fluid velocity…
We study a particular realization of the cosmological bounce scenario proposed recently by Ijjas and Steinhardt. First, we find that their bouncing solution starts from a divergent sound speed and ends with its vanishing. Thus, the solution connects two strongly coupled configurations. These pathologies are separated from the bouncing regime by only a few Planck times. We then reveal the exact structure of the Lagrangian, which reproduces this bouncing solution. This reconstruction allowed us to consider other cosmological solutions of the theory and analyze the phase space. In particular, we …
Cosmological bounces occur in many gravity theories. We define singularity scattering maps relating large scale geometries before and after the bounce (assuming no BKL oscillations) and encoding microscopic details of the theory. By classifying all suitably local maps we uncover three universal laws: scaling of Kasner exponents, canonical transformation of matter, directional metric scaling. These are indeed obeyed by Bianchi I bounces in string theory, loop quantum cosmology and modified matter models; our classification then determines how inhomogeneities and anisotropies traverse bounces, a…
Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (IAR, CONICET/CIC/UNLP)（阿根廷射电天文研究所）；Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata（拉普拉塔国立大学天文与地球物理学院）；Departamento de Física Teórica, Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro（里约热内卢州立大学物理研究所理论物理系）
