New singularities in unexpected places

Abstract

Spacetime singularities have been discovered which are physically much weaker than those predicted by the classical singularity theorems. Geodesics evolve through them and they only display infinities in the derivatives of their curvature invariants. So far, these singularities have appeared to require rather exotic and unphysical matter for their occurrence. Here, we show that a large class of singularities of this form can be found in a simple Friedmann cosmology containing only a scalar-field with a power-law self-interaction potential. Their existence challenges several preconceived ideas about the nature of spacetime singularities and has an impact upon the end of inflation in the early universe.