Kasner solutions, climbing scalars and big-bang singularity
- Sezione INFN e Dipartimento di Fisica,Università di Roma ''Tor Vergata'', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma (Italy)
- Centre de Physique Théorique, Ecole Polytechnique and CNRS, Route de Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau (France)
We elaborate on a recently discovered phenomenon where a scalar field close to big-bang is forced to climb a steep potential by its dynamics. We analyze the phenomenon in more general terms by writing the leading order equations of motion near the singularity. We formulate the conditions for climbing to exist in the case of several scalars and after inclusion of higher-derivative corrections and we apply our results to some models of moduli stabilization. We analyze an example with steep stabilizing potential and notice again a related critical behavior: for a potential steepness above a critical value, going backwards towards big-bang, the scalar undergoes wilder oscillations, with the steep potential pushing it back at every passage and not allowing the scalar to escape to infinity. Whereas it was pointed out earlier that there are possible implications of the climbing phase to CMB, we point out here another potential application, to the issue of initial conditions in inflation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22282705
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2013, Issue 08; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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