BICEP2 in corpuscular description of inflation
- New York University, Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics (United States)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Department für Physik (Germany)
A corpuscular quantum description of inflation shows that there is no fundamental problem with trans-Planckian excursions of the inflaton field up to about 100 Planck masses, with the upper bound coming from the corpuscular quantum effects. In this description, the r parameter measures the ratio of occupation numbers of gravitons versus inflatons, which, according to BICEP2, was roughly a half at the time of 60 e-foldings prior to the end of inflation. We stress that in a non-Wilsonian UV self-completion of gravity, any trans-Planckian mode coupled to the inflaton is a black hole. Unlike the Wilsonian case, integrating them out gives an exponentially suppressed effect and is unable to prevent trans-Planckian excursions of the inflaton field.
- OSTI ID:
- 22472366
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 3; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2015 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-7761
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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