We classify the metric-affine theories of gravitation, in which the metric and the connections are treated as independent variables, by use of several constraints on the connections. Assuming the Einstein-Hilbert action, we find that the equations for the distortion tensor (torsion and non-metricity) become algebraic, which means that those variables are not dynamical. As a result, we can rewrite the basic equations in the form of Riemannian geometry. Although all classified models recover the Einstein gravity in the Palatini formalism (in which we assume there is no coupling between matter and the connections), but when matter field couples to the connections, the effective Einstein equations include an additional hyper energy-momentum tensor obtained from the distortion tensor. Assuming a simple extension of a minimally coupled scalar field in metric-affine gravity, we analyze an inflationary scenario. Even if we adopt a chaotic inflation potential, certain parameters could satisfy observational constraints. Furthermore, we find that a simple form of Galileon scalar field in metric-affine could cause G-inflation.
In the general framework of Metric-Affine theories of gravity, where the metric and the connection are independent variables, we consider actions quadratic in the Ricci scalar curvature and the Holst invariant (the contraction of the Riemann curvature with the Levi-Civita antisymmetric tensor) coupled non-minimally to a scalar field. We study the profile of the equivalent effective metric theory, featuring an extra dynamical pseudoscalar degree of freedom, and show that it reduces to an effective single-field inflationary model. We analyze in detail the inflationary predictions and find that t…
We motivate a minimal realization of slow-roll $k$-inflation by incorporating the local conformal symmetry and the broken global $\mathrm{SO}(1,1)$ symmetry in the metric-affine geometry. With use of the metric-affine geometry where both the metric and the affine connection are treated as independent variables, the local conformal symmetry can be preserved in each term of the Lagrangian and thus higher derivatives of scalar fields can be easily added in a conformally invariant way. Predictions of this minimal slow-roll $k$-inflation, $n_\mathrm{s}\sim 0.96$, $r\sim 0.005$, and $c_\mathrm{s}\si…
Systematic understanding for classes of inflationary models is investigated from the viewpoint of the local conformal symmetry and the slightly broken global symmetry in the framework of the metric-affine geometry. In the metric-affine geometry, which is a generalisation of the Riemannian one adopted in the ordinary General Relativity, the affine connection is an independent variable of the metric rather than given e.g. by the Levi-Civita connection as its function. Thanks to this independency, the metric-affine geometry can preserve the local conformal symmetry in each term of the Lagrangian …
First, we propose a scale-invariant modified gravity interacting with a neutral scalar "inflaton" and a Higgs-like SU(2)xU(1) iso-doublet scalar field based on the formalism of non-Riemannian (metric-independent) spacetime volume-elements. This model describes in the physical Einstein frame a quintessential inflationary scenario driven by the "inflaton" together with gravity-inflaton assisted dynamical spontaneous SU(2)xU(1) symmetry breaking in the post-inflationary universe, whereas SU(2)xU(1) symmetry remains intact in the inflationary epoch. Next, we find the explicit representation of the…
Affine gravity, a gravity theory based on affine connection with no notion of metric, supports scalar field dynamics only if scalar fields have non-vanishing potential. The non-vanishing vacuum energy ensures that the cosmological constant is non-vanishing. It also ensures that the energy-momentum tensor of vacuum gives the dynamically generated metric tensor. We construct this affine setup and study primordial inflation in it. We study inflationary dynamics in affine gravity and general relativity, comparatively. We show that non-minimally coupled inflaton dynamics can be transformed into a m…
Accelerating dynamics from Born-Infeld-$f(R)$ gravity are studied in a simplified conformal approach without matter. Explicit unification of inflation with late-time acceleration is realized within this singular inflation approach, which is similar to Odintsov-Oikonomou singular $f(R)$ inflation. Our model turns out to be consistent with the latest release of Planck data.
Motivated by the fact that the pre-inflationary era may evolve in an exotic way, in this work we formalize anisotropic evolution in the context of modified gravity, focusing on pre-inflationary and near the vicinity of the inflationary epochs. We specialize on specific metrics like Bianchi and Taub and we formalize the inflationary theory in vacuum $F(R)$ gravity, in $F(R)$ gravity with an extra scalar field and in Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We discuss the qualitative effects of the anisotropies on the evolution of the Universe and also we consider several specific solutions, like the de Sitter sol…
We generalize the notion of constant-roll inflation earlier introduced in General Relativity (GR) and $f(R)$ gravity to inflationary models in more general scalar-tensor gravity. A number of novel exact analytic solutions for a FLRW spatially flat cosmological background is found for this case. All forms of the scalar field potential and its coupling to gravity producing the exact de Sitter solution, while the scalar field is varying, are presented. In the particular cases of induced gravity and GR with a non-minimally coupled scalar field, all constant-roll inflationary solutions are found. I…
We investigate inflation in frames of two classes of $F(R)$ gravity and check its consistency with Planck data. It is shown that $F(R)$ inflation without self-reproduction may be constructed in close analogy with the corresponding scalar example proposed by Mukhanov for the resolution the problems of multiverse, predictability and initial conditions.
We elaborate on the inflationary model starting from multidimensional Lagrangian and gravity with second-order curvature terms. The effective scalar field is related to the Ricci scalar of extra dimensions. It is shown that the Kretschmann and the Ricci tensor square terms dominate during inflation. The observable values of the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are obtained for specific values of the model parameters.
We investigate the inflationary realization in the context of unimodular $F(T)$ gravity, which is based on the $F(T)$ modification of teleparallel gravity, in which one imposes the unimodular condition through the use of Lagrange multipliers. We develop the general reconstruction procedure of the $F(T)$ form that can give rise to a given scale-factor evolution, and then we apply it in the inflationary regime. We extract the Hubble slow-roll parameters that allow us to calculate various inflation-related observables, such as the scalar spectral index and its running, the tensor-to-scalar ratio,…
Induced gravity, metrical gravity in which gravitational constant arises from vacuum expectation value of a heavy scalar, is known to suffer from Jordan frame vs. Einstein frame ambiguity, especially in inflationary dynamics. Induced gravity in affine geometry, as we show here, leads to an emergent metric and gravity scale, with no Einstein-Jordan ambiguity. While gravity is induced by the vacuum expectation value of the scalar field, nonzero vacuum energy facilitates generation of the metric. Our analysis shows that induced gravity results in a relatively large tensor-to-scalar ratio in both …
Inflationary dynamics driven by multiple fields, especially with nonminimal couplings, allow for highly interesting features such as isocurvature, non-Gaussianity, and preheating. In this paper, we study two-field inflation in the context of purely affine gravity, where the metrical structure results from the dynamics of the spacetime affine connection. We introduce a covariant formulation in the new framework and show that it leads to a curved field space which can produce conspicuous departure from the purely metric gravity. In the case where the fields are canonical, the field manifold gain…
In this work we study certain classes of $F(R,{\cal G})$ gravity which have appealing phenomenological features, with respect to the successful realization of the dark energy and of the inflationary era. Particularly, we discuss the general formalism and we demonstrate how several inflationary and dark energy evolutions can be described in the context of $F(R,{\cal G})$ gravity. Also we propose a unified model, in the context of which the early and late-time dynamics are controlled by the $F(R,{\cal G})$ gravity, thus producing inflation and the dark energy era, while the intermediate era is a…
We discuss the cosmological inflation in the context of $f(Q)$ non-metric gravity, where $Q$ is the non-metric scalar. After introducing conformal transformations for $f(Q)$ gravity, we first focus on the potential-slow-roll inflation by studying the corresponding potentials for different forms of the function $f(Q)$ in the Einstein frame. Secondly, we investigate the Hubble-slow-roll inflation for three classes of inflationary potentials considered for the specific form $f(Q)\propto Q^{2}$, in the Jordan frame. We compare results in both approaches with observations coming from Planck and BIC…
We consider a class of exponential models of $f(R)$ gravity, in the presence of a canonical scalar field, for which at early times the effective Lagrangian of the theory becomes that of a rescaled canonical scalar field with the Einstein-Hilbert term becoming $\sim αR$, with $α$ a dimensionless constant. This rescaled Einstein-Hilbert scalar field theory at early times alters the inflationary phenomenology of well-known scalar field models of inflation, but more importantly, in the context of this rescaled theory, the Swampland criteria are easily satisfied, assuming that the scalar field is s…
We consider the effects of the quantum stress tensor fluctuations of a conformal field in generating gravity waves in inflationary models. We find a non-scale invariant, non-Gaussian contribution which depends upon the total expansion factor between an initial time and the end of inflation. This spectrum of gravity wave perturbations is an illustration of a negative power spectrum, which is possible in quantum field theory. We discuss possible choices for the initial conditions. If the initial time is taken to be sufficiently early, the fluctuating gravity waves are potentially observable both…
Since the standard inflationary paradigm is based on quantum field theory on classical space-times, it excludes the Planck era. Using techniques from loop quantum gravity, the paradigm is extended to a self-consistent theory from the Planck scale to the onset of slow roll inflation, covering some 11 orders of magnitude in energy density and curvature. This pre-inflationary dynamics also opens a small window for novel effects, e.g. a source for non-Gaussianities, which could extend the reach of cosmological observations to the deep Planck regime of the early universe.
Emergence of $R^2$ inflation which is the best fit framework for CMB observations till date comes from the attempts to attack the problem of quantization of gravity which in turn have resulted in the trace anomaly discovery. Further developments in trace anomaly and different frameworks aiming to construct quantum gravity indicate an inevitability of non-locality in fundamental physics at small time and length scales. A natural question would be to employ the $R^2$ inflation as a probe for signatures of non-locality in the early Universe physics. Recent advances of embedding $R^2$ inflation in…
We investigate a (super-)renormalizable and ghost-free theory of gravity, showing that under a natural (exponential) ansatz of the form factor and a suitable truncation it can give rise to the Starobinsky inflationary theory in cosmological frameworks, and thus offering a theoretical justification of its origin. We study the corresponding inflationary evolution and we examine the generation of curvature perturbations, adapting the $f(R)$-like equations in a symmetry-reduced FLRW metric. Furthermore, we analyze how the ultraviolet regime of a simply renormalizable and unitary theory of gravity …
Cosmological models in 1+1 dimensions are an ideal setting for investigating the quantum structure of inflationary dynamics -- gravity is renormalizable, while there is room for spatial structure not present in the minisuperspace approximation. We use this fortuitous convergence to investigate the mechanism of slow-roll eternal inflation. A variant of 1+1 Liouville gravity coupled to matter is shown to model precisely the scalar sector of cosmological perturbations in 3+1 dimensions. A particular example of quintessence in 1+1d is argued on the one hand to exhibit slow-roll eternal inflation a…
Inflation is studied in the context of induced gravity (IG) $γσ^2 R$, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar, $σ$ a scalar field and $γ$ a dimensionless constant. We study in detail cosmological perturbations in IG and examine both a Landau-Ginzburg (LG) and a Coleman-Weinberg (CW) potential toy models for small field and large field (chaotic) inflation and find that small field inflationary models in IG are constrained to $γ\lesssim 3 \times 10^{-3}$ by WMAP 5 yrs data. Finally we describe the regime of coherent oscillations in induced gravity by an analytic approximation, showing how the homogeneous …
A general equation, describing the lowest order corrections coming from quantum gravitational effects to the spectrum of cosmological scalar fluctuations is obtained. These corrections are explicitly estimated for the case of a de Sitter evolution.
An intermediate inflationary universe model within the context of non-minimally coupled to the scalar curvature is analyzed. We will conduct our analysis under the slow roll approximation of the inflationary dynamics and the cosmological perturbations considering a coupling of the form $F(φ)=κ+ξ_nφ^n$. Considering the trajectories in the $r-n_s$ plane from Planck data, we find the constraints on the parameter-space in our model.
We explore trace-anomaly driven inflation in modified gravity. It is explicitly shown that in $T^2$ teleparallel gravity, the de Sitter inflation can occur, although quasi de Sitter inflation happens in $R^2$ gravity. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of the trace anomaly on inflation. It is found that in $f(T)$ gravity, the de Sitter inflation can end because it becomes unstable due to the trace anomaly, whereas also in higher derivative gravity, the de Sitter inflation can be realized and it will be over thanks to the trace anomaly for smaller parameter regions in comparison with tho…
We review inflationary cosmology in modified gravity such as $R^2$ gravity with its extensions in order to generalize the Starobinsky inflation model. In particular, we explore inflation realized by three kinds of effects: modification of gravity, the quantum anomaly, and the $R^2$ term in loop quantum cosmology. It is explicitly demonstrated that in these inflationary models, the spectral index of scalar modes of the density perturbations and the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be consistent with the Planck results. Bounce cosmology in $F(R)$ gravity is also explained.
We study slow-roll inflation and the generation of primordial fluctuations in $F(T)$ gravity's rainbow. We obtain the second order action for scalar and tensor perturbations and then calculate the primordial power spectrum for them. Thus, after calculating the inflationary observables up to first order in slow-roll approximation, namely the scalar spectral index $n_{s}$ and the tensor-to scalar ratio $r$, we confront the predictions of the model with the current PLANCK and BICEP/Keck data.
We use the Wilsonian functional Renormalisation Group (RG) to study quantum corrections for the Higgs inflationary action including the effect of gravitons, and analyse the leading-order quantum gravitational corrections to the Higgs' quartic coupling, as well as its non-minimal coupling to gravity and Newton's constant, at the inflationary regime and beyond. We explain how within this framework the effect of Higgs and graviton loops can be sufficiently suppressed during inflation, and we also place a bound on the corresponding value of the infrared RG cut-off scale during inflation. Finally, …
We study cosmological inflation on a warped DGP braneworld where inflaton field is non-minimally coupled to induced gravity on the brane. We present a detailed calculation of the perturbations and inflation parameters both in Jordan and Einstein frame. We analyze the parameters space of the model fully to justify about the viability of the model in confrontation with recent observational data. We compare the results obtained in these two frames also in order to judge which frame gives more acceptable results in comparison with observational data.
In this letter we shall provide a formal derivation of the inflationary slow-roll indices for $F(R)$ gravity from the power spectrum without the condition $\dotε_1=0$, frequently used in the literature, where $ε_1=-\frac{\dot{H}}{H^2}$ is the first slow-roll index. We shall employ Karamata's theorem for regularly varying functions, and as we show, we shall derive the same expressions for the scalar and tensor spectral index of $F(R)$ gravity, also appearing in the current literature, without the misleading and rather strong condition $\dotε_1=0$. The only conditions that are needed are the slo…
Here we concisely review the nonminimal coupling dynamics of a single scalar field in the context of purely affine gravity and extend the study to multifield dynamics. The coupling is performed via an affine connection and its associated curvature without referring to any metric tensor. The latter arises a posteriori and it may gain an emergent character like the scale of gravity. What is remarkable in affine gravity is the transition from nonminimal to minimal couplings which is realized by only field redefinition of the scalar fields. Consequently, the inflationary models gain a unique descr…
Once quantum corrections are taken into account, the strong coupling limit of the $ξ$-attractor models (in metric gravity) might depart from the usual Starobinsky solution and move into linear inflation. Furthermore, it is well known that the metric and Palatini formulations of gravity lead to different inflationary predictions in presence of non-minimally couplings between gravity and the inflaton. In this letter we show that for a certain class of non-minimally coupled models, loop corrections will lead to a linear inflation attractor regardless of the adopted gravity formulation.
Affine gravity is a connection-based formulation of gravity that does not involve a metric. After a review of basic properties of affine gravity, we compute the tree-level scattering amplitude of scalar particles interacting gravitationally via the connection in a curved spacetime. We find that, while classically equivalent to general relativity, affine gravity differs from metric quantum gravity.
We investigate in detail a family of quintessential inflation models in the context of $R+R^2$ Palatini modified gravity. We find that successful inflation and quintessence are obtained with an inflaton scalar potential that is approximately quadratic in inflation and inverse quartic in quintessence. We show that corrections for the kination period due to Palatini modified gravity are subdominant, while the setup does not challenge constraints on modified gravity from solar system observations and microscopic experiments, in contrast to the metric case. We obtain concrete predictions regarding…
Quasi-pole quintessential inflation in metric-affine gravity
Consortium for Fundamental Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Lancaster University（兰开斯特大学物理与天文学院基础物理学联盟）；National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics（国家化学物理和生物物理研究所）；Tallinn University of Technology（塔尔图理工大学）
We investigate how eternal inflation is affected by quantum gravity effects. We consider general features of quantum gravity, such as renormalizability, complementarity, minimal length, definition of observables, and weak gravity conjecture. We also consider phenomenological models such as ghost inflation, non-commutative inflation, brane inflation, k-inflation and resonant tunneling. We find that all these features and models do not support eternal inflation. These evidences show hints that eternal inflation is prohibited by quantum gravity.
Starobinsky inflation and Higgs inflation in gravity, and their equivalence based on the common inflationary potential are extended to supergravity in the proper framework, where the Starobinsky and Higgs descriptions of inflation arise in two different gauges of the same supergravity model.
We study logamediate inflation in the context of $f(T)$ teleparallel gravity. $f(T)$-gravity is a generalization of the teleparallel gravity which is formulated on the Weitzenböck spacetime, characterized by the vanishing curvature tensor (absolute parallelism) and the non-vanishing torsion tensor. We consider an $f(T)$-gravity model which is sourced by a canonical scalar field. Assuming a power-law $f(T)$ function in the action, we investigate an inflationary universe with a logamediate scale factor. Our results show that, although logamediate inflation is completely ruled out by observationa…
A field kinetic coupling with the Einstein tensor leads to a gravitationally enhanced friction during inflation, by which even steep potentials with theoretically natural model parameters can drive cosmic acceleration. In the presence of this non-minimal derivative coupling we place observational constraints on a number of representative inflationary models such as chaotic inflation, inflation with exponential potentials, natural inflation, and hybrid inflation. We show that most of the models can be made compatible with the current observational data mainly due to the suppressed tensor-to-sca…
We construct a warm inflation model with inflaton field non-minimally coupled to induced gravity on a warped DGP brane. We incorporate possible modification of the induced gravity on the brane in the spirit of $f(R)$-gravity. We study cosmological perturbations in this setup. In the case of two field inflation such as warm inflation, usually entropy perturbations are generated. While it is expected that in the case of one field inflation these perturbations to be removed, we show that even in the absence of the radiation field, entropy perturbations are generated in our setup due to non-minima…
Multiple scalar fields nonminimally interacting through pure affine gravity are considered to generate primordial perturbations during an inflationary phase. The couplings considered give rise to two distinct sources of entropy perturbations that may not be suppressed in the long wavelength limit. The first is merely induced by the presence of more than one scalar and arises even in the minimal coupling limit. The second source however is restricted to nonminimal interaction. Unlike the case of metric gravity, and due to the absence of anisotropic stresses, the second source disappears for sin…
We have derived an effective potential for inflationary scenario from torsion and quantum gravity correction in terms of the scalar field hidden in torsion. A strict bound on the CP violating $θ$ parameter, ${\cal O}(10^{-10})<θ<{\cal O}(10^{-9})$ has been obtained, using {\tt Planck+WMAP9} best fit cosmological parameters.
We reconsider the toy-model of topological inflation, based on the R*4-modified gravity. By using its equivalence to the certain scalar-tensor gravity model in four space-time dimensions, we compute the inflaton scalar potential and investigate a possibility of inflation. We confirm the existence of the slow-roll inflation with an exit. However, the model suffers from the eta-problem that gives rise to the unacceptable value of the spectral index n_s of scalar perturbations.
We consider 4D quantum-dilaton gravity with the most general coupling in a homogeneous and isotropic universe, especially an inflationary one, which is essentially characterized by an exponentially expanding scale factor with time. We show that on the inflationary background this theory can be miraculously renormalized, at least at the one-loop level, which must be an effective theory during the inflation of the un-constructed complete quantum theory of gravity.
