We study a single field inflationary model modified by a non-minimal coupling term between the Ricci scalar $R$ and the scalar field $φ$ in the context of constant-roll inflation. The first-order formalism is used to analyse the constant-roll inflation instead of the standard methods used in the literature. In principle, the formalism considers two functions of the scalar field, $W=W(φ)$ and $Z=Z(φ)$, which lead to the reduction of the equations of motion to first-order differential equations. The approach can be applied to a wide range of cosmological situations since it directly relates the function $W$ with Hubble parameter $H$. We perform the inflationary analysis for power-law and exponential couplings, separately. Then, we investigate the features of constant-roll potentials as inflationary potentials. Finally, we compare the inflationary parameters of the models with the observations of CMB anisotropies in view of realize a physically motivated model.
We investigate the slow-roll inflation in the nonminimal derivative coupling (NDC) model with exponential, quadric, and quartic potentials. It was known that this model provides an enhanced slow-roll inflation induced by gravitationally enhanced friction even for a steep exponential potential. In the phase portrait, the inflationary attractor is described by the slow-roll equation. Introducing the autonomous form, the inflation is regarded as an emergence from the saddle point and it leaves this fixed point along the slow-roll equation. We show explicitly that if one uses the NDC with potentia…
We study analytically and numerically the inflationary solutions for various type scalar potentials in the nonminimally coupled scalar field theory. The Hamilton-Jacobi equation is used to deal with nonlinear evolutions of inhomogeneous spacetimes and the long-wavelength approximation is employed. The constraints that lead to a sufficient inflation are found for the nonminimal coupling constant and initial conditions of the scalar field for inflation potentials. In particular, we numerically find an inflationary solution in the new inflation model of a nonminimal scalar field.
We calculate the covariant one-loop quantum gravitational effective action for a scalar field model inspired by the recently proposed nonminimal natural inflation model. Our calculation is perturbative, in the sense that the effective action is evaluated in orders of background field, around a Minkowski background. The effective potential has been evaluated taking into account the finite corrections. An order-of-magnitude estimate of the one-loop corrections reveals that gravitational and non-gravitational corrections have same or comparable magnitudes.
We propose the mechanism of quantum creation of the open Universe in the observable range of values of $Ω$. This mechanism is based on the no-boundary quantum state with the Hawking-Turok instanton applied to the model with a strong nonminimal coupling of the inflaton field. We develop the slow roll perturbation expansion for the instanton solution and obtain a nontrivial contribution to the classical instanton action. The interplay of this classical contribution with the loop effects due to quantum effective action generates the probability distribution peak with necessary parameters of the i…
The nonminimal coupling (NMC) of the scalar field to the Ricci curvature is unavoidable in many cosmological scenarios. Inflation and quintessence models based on nonminimally coupled scalar fields are studied, with particular attention to the balance between the scalar potential and the NMC term in the action. NMC makes acceleration of the universe harder to achieve for the usual potentials, but it is beneficial in obtaining cosmic acceleration with unusual potentials. The slow-roll approximation with NMC, conformal transformation techniques, and other aspects of the physics of NMC are clarif…
We perform adiabatic regularization of power spectrum in nonminimally coupled general single-field inflation with varying speed of sound. The subtraction is performed within the framework of earlier study by Urakawa and Starobinsky dealing with the canonical inflation. Inspired by Fakir and Unruh's model on nonminimally coupled chaotic inflation, we find upon imposing near scale-invariant condition, that the subtraction term exponentially decays with the number of $ e $-folds. As in the result for the canonical inflation, the regularized power spectrum tends to the "bare" power spectrum as the…
We present the power spectra of the scalar- and tensor-type structures generated in an inflation model based on the nonminimally coupled scalar field with a self coupling. By comparing the contributions of these structures to the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation with the four year COBE DMR data we derive strong constraints on model parameters and the inflation model.
We show explicitly how the T model, E model, and Hilltop inflations are obtained from the general scalar-tensor theory of gravity with arbitrary conformal factors in the strong coupling limit. We argue that $ξ$ attractors can give any observables $n_s$ and $r$ by this method. The existence of attractors imposes a challenge to distinguish different models.
We study the possibility that inflation is driven by a massive vector field with SO(3) global symmetry nonminimally coupled to gravity. From an E^3-invariant Robertson-Walker metric we propose an Ansatz for the vector field, allowing us to study the evolution of the system. We study the behaviour of the equations of motion using the methods of the theory of dynamical systems and find exponential inflationary regimes.
We revisit the reheating mechanism after the end of inflation in the non-minimal derivative coupling (NDC) to gravity with quadratic potential. This is because the inflaton of the NDC should describe the slow-roll inflation as well as the preheating stage after the end of inflation. We point out that the non-periodic inflaton solution implies the absence of parametric resonance, compared to the periodic oscillating inflaton for the canonical coupling (CC) to gravity. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that narrow and broad parametric resonances do not appear after the end of inflation in the NDC …
We consider the dynamics of power-law inflation with a nonminimally coupled scalar field $ϕ$. It is well known that multiple scalar fields with exponential potentials $V(ϕ)=V_0 {\rm exp}(-\sqrt{16π/p m_{\rm pl}^2} ϕ)$ lead to an inflationary solution even if the each scalar field is not capable to sustain inflation. In this paper, we show that inflation can be assisted even in the one-field case by the effect of nonminimal coupling. When $ξ$ is positive, since an effective potential which arises by a conformal transformation becomes flatter compared with the case of $ξ=0$ for $ϕ>0$, we have an…
In the context of nonminimally coupled $f(R)$ gravity theories, we study early inflation driven by a nonlinear monopole magnetic field which is nonminimally coupled to curvature. In order to isolate the effects of the nonminimal coupling between matter and curvature we assume the pure gravitational sector to have the Einstein-Hilbert form. Thus, we study the most simple model with a nonminimal coupling function which is linear in the Ricci scalar. From an effective fluid description, we show the existence of an early exponential expansion regime of the Universe, followed by a transition to a r…
Recent and upcoming experimental data as well as the possibility of rich phenomenology has spiked interest in studying the quantum gravitational effects in cosmology at low (inflation-era) energy scales. While Planck scale physics is under development, it is still possible to incorporate quantum gravity effects at relatively low energies using quantum field theory in curved spacetime, which serves as a low-energy limit of planck scale physics. We use the Vilkovisky-DeWitt's covariant effective action formalism to study quantum gravitational corrections to a recently proposed Natural Inflation …
I study a fresh inflationary model with a scalar field nonminimally coupled to gravity. An example is examined. I find that, as larger is the value of $p$ (the power of the scale factor), smaller (but larger in its absolute value) is the necessary value of the coupling $ξ$ to the inflaton field fluctuations can satisfy a scale invariant power spectrum.
We have found a successful model of chaotic inflation with an inflaton coupled nonminimally with gravity. The nonminimal coupling constant $ξ$ runs with the evolution of the inflaton. The running nature of the coupling leads naturally to the situations where the coupling becomes small enough to have sufficient period of the inflation to resolve the cosmological puzzles.
We construct the global phase portraits of inflationary dynamics in teleparallel gravity models with a scalar field nonminimally coupled to torsion scalar. The adopted set of variables can clearly distinguish between different asymptotic states as fixed points, including the kinetic and inflationary regimes. The key role in the description of inflation is played by the heteroclinic orbits which run from the asymptotic saddle points to the late time attractor point and are approximated by nonminimal slow roll conditions. To seek the asymptotic fixed points we outline a heuristic method in terms…
Recently there was an extensive discussion of Higgs inflation in the theory with the potential λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 and nonminimal coupling to gravity {ξ\over 2}ϕ^2R, for ξ>> 1 and v<< 1. We extend this investigation to the theories m^2ϕ^2 and λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 with arbitrary values of ξand v and describe implementation of these models in supergravity. We analyze observational consequences of these models and find a surprising coincidence of the inflationary predictions of the model λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 with ξ<0 in the limit |ξ|v^2 \to 1 with the predictions of the Higgs inflation scenario for ξ>> 1.
We study extended theories of gravity where nonminimal derivative couplings of the form $R^{kl}ϕ_{, k}ϕ_{, l}$ are present in the Lagrangian. We show how and why the other couplings of similar structure may be ruled out and then deduce the field equations and the related cosmological models. Finally, we get inflationary solutions which do follow neither from any effective scalar field potential nor from a cosmological constant introduced ``by hand'', and we show the de Sitter space--time to be an attractor solution.
We show explicitly how the E model attractor is obtained from the general scalar-tensor theory of gravity with arbitrary conformal factors in the strong coupling limit. By using conformal transformations, any attractor with the observables $n_s$ and $r$ can be obtained. The existence of attractors imposes a challenge to distinguish different models.
We study a class of models in which the inflaton is minimally coupled to gravity with a term $f(R)\vp^2$. We focus in particular on the case when $f\sim R^2$, the expansion of the scale factor is driven by the usual potential energy, while the rolling of the inflaton is driven by the nonminial coupling. We show that the power spectrum is in general blue, and the problem of getting a running spectral index is eased. However, the inflaton potential must have a large second derivative in order to get a large running.
We study the dynamics of a generalized inflationary model in which both the scalar field and its derivatives are coupled to the gravity. We consider a general form of the nonminimal derivative coupling in order to have a complete treatment of the model. By expanding the action up to the second order in perturbation, we study the spectrum of the primordial modes of the perturbations. Also, by expanding the action up to the third order and considering the three point correlation functions, the amplitude of the non-Gaussianity of the primordial perturbations is studied both in equilateral and ort…
We propose an inflationary scenario based on the concurrent presence of non-minimal coupling (NMC) and generalized non-minimal derivative coupling (GNMDC), in the context of Higgs inflation. The combined construction maintains the advantages of the individual scenarios without sharing their disadvantages. In particular, a long inflationary phase can be easily achieved due to the gravitational friction effect owed to the GNMDC, without leading to trans-Planckian values and unitarity violation. Additionally, the tensor-to-scalar ratio remains to low values due to the NMC contribution. Finally, t…
We study an inflation model that inflaton field is non-minimally coupled to the induced scalar curvature on the Randall-Sundrum (RS) II brane. We investigate the effects of the non-minimal coupling on the inflationary dynamics of this braneworld model. Our study shows that the number of e-folds decreases by increasing the value of the non-minimal coupling. We compare our model parameters with the minimal case and also with recent observational data. In comparison with recent observation, we obtain a constraint on the values that the non-minimal coupling attains.
We study slow-roll inflation with a Gauss-Bonnet term that is coupled to an inflaton field nonminimally. We investigate the inflationary solutions for a specific type of the nonminimal coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet term and inflaton potential both analytically and numerically. We also calculate the observable quantities such as the power spectra of the scalar and tensor modes, the spectral indices, the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the running spectral indices. Finally, we constrain our result with the observational data by Planck and BICEP2 experiment.
Inflationary models with a scalar field nonminimally coupled both with the Ricci scalar and with the Gauss-Bonnet term are studied. We propose the way of generalization of inflationary scenarios with the Gauss-Bonnet term and a scalar field minimally coupled with the Ricci scalar to the corresponding scenarios with a scalar field nonminimally coupled with the Ricci scalar. Using the effective potential, we construct a set of models with the same values of the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the amplitude of the scalar perturbations $A_s$ and different values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$.
The slow-roll approximation to inflation is ultimately justified by the presence of inflationary attractors for the orbits of the solutions of the dynamical equations in phase space. There are many indications that the inflaton field couples nonminimally to the spacetime curvature: the existence of attractor points for inflation with nonminimal coupling is demonstrated, subject to a condition on the inflaton potential and the value of the coupling constant.
We discuss applications of perturbative quantum gravity in the theory of very early quantum Universe and quantum cosmology. Consistency of the theoretical formalism for quantum effects of matter and correspondence with observational status of modern precision cosmology impose stringent bounds on and establish strong links with high energy particle phenomenology. Within this line of reasoning we study various aspects of one-loop approximation for the cosmological wave function, review Higgs inflation model intertwining the physics of electroweak sector of the Standard Model with the characteris…
We study the dynamics and perturbations during inflation and reheating in a multi-field model where a second scalar field $χ$ is nonminimally coupled to the scalar curvature $(\frac12 ξRχ^2$). When $ξ$ is positive, the usual inflationary prediction for large-scale anisotropies is hardly altered while the $χ$ fluctuation in sub-Hubble modes can be amplified during preheating for large $ξ$. For negative values of $ξ$, however, long-wave modes of the $χ$ fluctuation exhibit exponential increase during inflation, leading to the strong enhancement of super-Hubble metric perturbations even when $|ξ|…
We study the possibility of the Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) formation with the aim of finding a considerable fraction of Dark Matter (DM), using the gravitationally enhanced friction mechanism which arises from a nonminimal derivative coupling between the scalar field and the gravity. Assuming the nonminimal coupling parameter as a special function of the scalar field and considering the potential of natural inflation, we find three parameter sets that produce a period of ultra slow-roll inflation. This leads to sufficiently large enhancement in the curvature power spectra to form PBHs. We s…
We reconsider the dynamical systems approach to analyze inflationary universe in the Jordan frame models of scalar field nonminimally coupled to curvature. The adopted set of variables allows us to clearly distinguish between different asymptotic states in the phase space, including the kinetic and inflationary regimes. Inflation is realized as a heteroclinic trajectory originating either at infinity from a nonhyperbolic asymptotic de Sitter point or from a regular saddle de Sitter point. We also present a comprehensive picture of possible initial conditions leading to sufficient inflationary …
We study particle production at the preheating era in inflation models with nonminimal coupling $ξϕ^2R$ and quartic potential $λϕ^4/4$ for several cases: real scalar inflaton, complex scalar inflaton and Abelian Higgs inflaton. We point out that the preheating proceeds much more violently than previously thought. If the inflaton is a complex scalar, the phase degree of freedom is violently produced at the first stage of preheating. If the inflaton is a Higgs field, the longitudinal gauge boson production is similarly violent. This is caused by a spike-like feature in the time dependence of the…
We extend the Coleman--Weinberg inflationary model where a scalar field $ϕ$ is non-minimally coupled to gravity with the addition of the $R^2$ term. We express the theory in terms of two scalar fields and going to the Einstein frame we employ the Gildener--Weinberg formalism, compute the one-loop effective potential and essentially reduce the problem to the case of single-field inflation. It turns out that there is only one free parameter, namely, the mixing angle between the scalars. For a wide range of this angle, we compute the inflationary observables which are in agreement with the latest…
In the framework of Higgs inflation, we consider the electromagnetic field nonminimally coupled to gravity via the parity-preserving $\propto RF^{2}$ and parity-violating $\propto RF\tilde{F}$ terms. Using the perturbation theory to the leading order in these couplings, we study the generation of the electromagnetic field during the inflation stage. We derive the effective kinetic and axial coupling functions arising in the Einstein frame in the usual metric as well as Palatini formulations of gravity. For both formulations, we determine the power spectrum, energy density, and helicality of th…
We study cosmological perturbations in generalized Einstein scenarios and show the equivalence of inflationary observables both in the Jordan frame and the Einstein frame. In particular the consistency relation relating the tensor-to-scalar ratio with the spectral index of tensor perturbations coincides with the one in Einstein gravity, which leads to the same likelihood results in terms of inflationary observables. We apply this formalism to nonminimally coupled chaotic inflationary scenarios with potential $V=cϕ^p$ and place constraints on the strength of nonminimal couplings using a compila…
In this letter we study the dynamics of the late Universe when a nonminimally coupled Higgs field is present. In general, the nonminimal coupling leads to a nontrivial mixing between the gravitational degrees of freedom and the Goldstone massless bosons. We know that this is irrelevant during the inflationary phase. In contrast, in the late Universe the nonminimal coupling affects the classical equations of motion, leading to an acceleration of the expansion rate or to a collapse that forms Q-balls.
Anisotropic and isotropic slow-roll inflation supported by n-forms are sought. Canonical field strengths and their duals are taken into account, and they are allowed to have a potential and also, when necessary for slow-roll, a nonminimal curvature coupling. New isotropic solutions are found for three-forms. It is also shown that some n-form actions are equivalent to f(R) gravity and scalar field models with possible nonminimal couplings. Anisotropic solutions are found for two-forms, generalising vector inflation, however, also the two-form is unstable during inflation due to the nonminimal c…
Realistic models of particle physics include many scalar fields. These fields generically have nonminimal couplings to the Ricci curvature scalar, either as part of a generalized Einstein theory or as necessary counterterms for renormalization in curved background spacetimes. We develop a gauge-invariant formalism for calculating primordial perturbations in models with multiple nonminimally coupled fields. We work in the Jordan frame (in which the nonminimal couplings remain explicit) and identify two distinct sources of entropy perturbations for such models. One set of entropy perturbations a…
In the previous work, a new kind of inflation model was proposed, which has the interesting property that its perturbation equation of motion gets a correction of k^4, due to the non-linearity of the kinetic term. Nonetheless, the scale-invariance of the power spectrum remains valid, both in large-k and small-k limits. In this paper, we investigate in detail the spectral index, the index running and the tensor/scalar ratio in this model, especially on the potential-driven case, and compare the results to the current PLANCK/BICEP observational data. We also discuss the tensor spectrum in this c…
We consider cosmological dynamics in the theory of gravity with the scalar field possessing a nonminimal kinetic coupling to gravity, $κG_{μν}ϕ^μϕ^ν$, and the power-law potential $V(ϕ)=V_0ϕ^N$. Using the dynamical system method, we analyze all possible asymptotical regimes of the model under investigation and show that for sloping potentials with $0<N<2$ there exists a quasi-de Sitter asymptotic $H={1}/{\sqrt{9κ}}$ corresponding to an early inflationary Universe. In contrast to the standard inflationary scenario, the kinetic coupling inflation does not depend on a scalar field potential and is…
We propose a novel enhancement mechanism of the curvature perturbations in the nonminimal derivative coupling inflation model with a coupling parameter related to the inflaton field. By considering a special form of the coupling parameter as a function of the inflaton, a period of ultra-slow-roll inflation can be realized due to the gravitationally enhanced friction, and the resulting power spectrum of the curvature perturbations has a sharp peak, which is large enough to produce the primordial black holes. Under this mechanism, we can easily obtain a sharp mass spectrum of primordial black ho…
In the light of the new observational results we discuss the status of the exponential potentials driving inflation. We depart form the minimal scenario and study an inflaton kinetically coupled to the Einstein tensor. We find that in this case the exponential potentials are well compatible with observations. Their predictions coincide with those of the chaotic type quadratic potential for an inflaton minimally coupled to gravity. We show that there exists a simple mapping between the two models. Moreover, a novel aspect of our model is that it features a natural exit from the inflationary pha…
We investigate the inflaton decay and reheating period after the end of inflation in the non-minimal derivative coupling (NDC) model with chaotic potential. In general, this model is known to provide an enhanced slow-roll inflation caused by gravitationally enhanced friction. We find violent oscillations of Hubble parameter which induces oscillations of the sound speed squared, implying the Lagrangian instability of curvature perturbation $ζ$ under the comoving gauge $φ=0$. Also, it is shown that the curvature perturbation blows up at $\dotϕ=0$, leading to the breakdown of the comoving gauge a…
Models of cosmic inflation suggest that our universe underwent an early phase of accelerated expansion, driven by the dynamics of one or more scalar fields. Inflationary models make specific, quantitative predictions for several observable quantities, including particular patterns of temperature anistropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation. Realistic models of high-energy physics include many scalar fields at high energies. Moreover, we may expect these fields to have nonminimal couplings to the spacetime curvature. Such couplings are quite generic, arising as renormalization count…
We consider inflation in a universe with a positive cosmological constant and a nonminimally coupled scalar field, in which the field couples both quadratically and quartically to the Ricci scalar. When considered in the Einstein frame and when the nonminimal couplings are negative, the field starts in slow roll and inflation ends with an asymptotic value of the principal slow roll parameter, $ε_E=4/3$. Graceful exit can be achieved by suitably (tightly) coupling the scalar field to matter, such that at late time the total energy density reaches the scaling of matter, $ε_E=ε_m$. Quite generica…
We introduce a frame-covariant formalism for inflation of scalar-curvature theories by adopting a differential geometric approach which treats the scalar fields as coordinates living on a field-space manifold. This ensures that our description of inflation is both conformally and reparameterization covariant. Our formulation gives rise to extensions of the usual Hubble and potential slow-roll parameters to generalized fully frame-covariant forms, which allow us to provide manifestly frame-invariant predictions for cosmological observables, such as the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, the spectral i…
Dynamics of potential-free warm $\mathbf{k}$-inflation with nonminimal derivative coupling
School of Science, Qingdao University of Technology（青岛理工大学理学院）；School of Physics and Advanced Energy, Henan University of Technology（河南工业大学物理与能源工程学院）；College of Physics and Electronic Information, Inner Mongolia Normal University（内蒙古师范大学物理与电子信息学院）
Primordial black holes (PBHs) provide an exciting prospect for accounting for dark matter. In this paper, we consider inflationary models that incorporate realistic features from high-energy physics -- including multiple interacting scalar fields and nonminimal couplings to the spacetime Ricci scalar -- that could produce PBHs with masses in the range required to address the present-day dark matter abundance. Such models are consistent with supersymmetric constructions, and only incorporate operators in the effective action that would be expected from generic effective field theory considerati…
We investigate the possibility of inflation with models of antisymmetric tensor field having minimal and nonminimal couplings to gravity. Although the minimal model does not support inflation, the nonminimal models, through the introduction of a nonminimal coupling to gravity, can give rise to stable de-Sitter solutions with a bound on the coupling parameters. The values of field and coupling parameters are sub-planckian. Slow roll analysis is performed and slow-roll parameters are defined which can give the required number of e-folds for sufficient inflation. Stability analysis has been perfo…
We study a theory which generalizes the nonminimal coupling of matter to gravity by including derivative couplings. This leads to several interesting new dynamical phenomena in cosmology. In particular, the range of parameters in which inflationary attractors exist is greatly expanded. We also numerically integrate the field equations and draw the phase space of the model in second order approximation. The model introduced here may display different inflationary epochs, generating a non-scale-invariant fluctuation spectrum without the need of two or more fields. Finally, we comment on the bubb…
