On the Problem of Predicting Inflationary Perturbations

Details On the Problem of Predicting Inflationary Perturbations On the Problem of Predicting Inflationary Perturbations

1997-09-03

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9709032v1

Phys.Lett.B414:18-27,1997

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

20 pages, 1 figure, revtex, submitted to Phys. Lett. B

Scientific paper

10.1016/S0370-2693(97)01166-0

We examine the theoretical foundations of standard methods for computing density perturbations in inflationary models. We find that: (1) the time-delay formalism (introduced by Guth and Pi, 1982) is only valid when inflation is well-described by the de Sitter solution and the equation-of-state is nearly unchanging; and, (2) the horizon-crossing/Bessel approximation extends to non-exponential inflation, but only if the equation-of-state is changing slowly. Integration of the gauge-invariant perturbation equations mode-by-mode is the only method reliable for general models. For models with rapidly varying equation-of-state, the correction leads to significantly different predictions for the microwave background anisotropy. An important corollary is that methods proposed for "reconstruction" of the inflaton potential from anisotropy data are unreliable for general models.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

On the Problem of Predicting Inflationary Perturbations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with On the Problem of Predicting Inflationary Perturbations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and On the Problem of Predicting Inflationary Perturbations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-328366