Singular Inflation
View / Open Files
Publication Date
2015-04-08Journal Title
Physical Review D
ISSN
1550-7998
Publisher
APS
Volume
91
Number
083513
Language
English
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Barrow, J., & Graham, A. A. (2015). Singular Inflation. Physical Review D, 91 (083513)https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.083513
Abstract
We prove that a homogeneous and isotropic universe containing a scalar field with a power-law potential, V(ϕ)=Aϕ^n, with 0<n<1 and A>0 always develops a finite-time singularity at which the Hubble rate and its first derivative are finite, but its second derivative diverges. These are the first examples of cosmological models with realistic matter sources that possess weak singularities of “sudden” type. We also show that a large class of models with even weaker singularities exists for noninteger n>1. More precisely, if k<n<k+1 where k is a positive integer then the first divergence of the Hubble rate occurs with its (k+2)th derivative. At early times these models behave like standard large-field inflation models but they encounter a singular end state when inflation ends. We term this singular inflation.
Sponsorship
A.A.H.G. and J.D.B. are supported by the STFC.
Funder references
STFC (ST/L000636/1)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.083513
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/250422
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales
Licence URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/
Recommended or similar items
The following licence files are associated with this item: