Quantum stress tensor fluctuations of a conformal field and inflationary cosmology

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.82.043501· OSTI ID:21420908

Ford, L H ^[1]; Miao, S P ^[2]; Ng, Kin-Wang ^[3]; Woodard, R P ^[4]; Wu, C -H ^[3]

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1. Institute of Cosmology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 (United States)
2. Centro de Estudios Cientificos (CECS), Casilla 1469, Valdivia (Chile)
3. Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China)
4. Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States)

We discuss the additional perturbation introduced during inflation by quantum stress tensor fluctuations of a conformally invariant field such as the photon. We consider both a kinematical model, which deals only with the expansion fluctuations of geodesics, and a dynamical model which treats the coupling of the stress tensor fluctuations to a scalar inflaton. In neither model do we find any growth at late times, in accordance with a theorem due to Weinberg. What we find instead is a correction which becomes larger the earlier one starts inflation. This correction is non-Gaussian and highly scale dependent, so the absence of such effects from the observed power spectra may imply a constraint on the total duration of inflation. We discuss different views about the validity of perturbation theory at very early times during which currently observable modes are trans-Planckian.

• OSTI ID: 21420908
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 82, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.82.043501; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CORRECTIONS
COSMOLOGY
COUPLING
DISTURBANCES
EXPANSION
FLUCTUATIONS
INFLATIONARY UNIVERSE
PERTURBATION THEORY
PHOTONS
SPECTRA
STRESSES
BOSONS
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
VARIATIONS