A radiation-like era before inflation

Abstract

We show that the semiclassical approximation to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for the minisuperspace of a minimally coupled scalar field in the spatially flat de Sitter Universe prompts the existence of an initial power-law evolution driven by non-adiabatic terms from the gravitational wavefunction which act like radiation. This simple model hence describes the onset of inflation from a previous radiation-like expansion during which the cosmological constant is already present but subleading.

LaTeX, 8 pages, no figures; final version to be published in JCAP

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• The role of fluctuation-dissipation dynamics in setting initial conditions for inflation
• Semiclassical predictions regarding a pre-inflationary era and its effects on the power spectrum
• Radiation-dominated bouncing model with slow contraction and inflation
• An exact solution of the higher-order gravity in standard radiation-dominated era