Towards a formal description of the collapse approach to the inflationary origin of the seeds of cosmic structure

Details Towards a formal description of the collapse approach to the inflationary origin of the seeds of cosmic structure Towards a formal description of the collapse approach to the inflationary origin of the seeds of cosmic structure

2011-08-24

arxiv.org/abs/1108.4928v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

43 pages, no figures

Scientific paper

Inflation plays a central role in our current understanding of the universe. According to the standard viewpoint the homogeneous and isotropic mode of the inflaton field drove an early phase of nearly exponential expansion of the universe, while the quantum fluctuations (uncertainties) of the other modes gave rise to the seeds of cosmic structure. However, if we accept that the accelerated expansion lead the universe into an essentially homogeneous and isotropic space-time with the state of all the matter fields in their vacuum except for the zero mode of the inflaton field, we can not escape the conclusion that the state of the universe as a whole would remain always homogeneous and isotropic. It was recently proposed in [A. Perez, H. Sahlmann and D. Sudarsky, "On the quantum origin of the seeds of cosmic structure," Class. Quant. Grav. \textbf{23}, 2317-2354 (2006)] that a collapse (representing physics beyond the established paradigm, and presumably associated with a quantum-gravity effect \`a la Penrose) of the state function of the inflaton field might be the missing element, and thus would be responsible for the emergence of the primordial inhomogeneities. Here we will discuss in detail a formalism that relies strongly on quantum field theory on curved space-times, and within which we can implement a detailed description of such a process. We will see that the picture that emerges clarifies many aspects of the problem, and is conceptually quite transparent. We will find nonetheless that the results lead us to argue that it is not fully compatible with a purely geometric description of space-time.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Towards a formal description of the collapse approach to the inflationary origin of the seeds of cosmic structure 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 Towards a formal description of the collapse approach to the inflationary origin of the seeds of cosmic structure, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Towards a formal description of the collapse approach to the inflationary origin of the seeds of cosmic structure will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-318149