A Quantum Window Onto Early Inflation

Abstract

Inflation in the early Universe is one of the most promising probes of gravity in the high-energy regime. However, observable scales give access to a limited window in the inflationary dynamics. In this essay, we argue that quantum corrections to the classical dynamics of cosmological fields allow us to probe much earlier epochs of the inflationary phase and extend this window by many orders of magnitude. We point out that both the statistics of cosmological fluctuations at observable scales, and the field displacements acquired by spectator fields that play an important role in many post-inflationary processes, are sensitive to a much longer phase of the inflationary epoch.

arXiv comment5 pages, 2 figures. Honourable Mention from the Gravity Research Foundation 2017 Awards for Essays on Gravitation. Version to appear in October 2017 Special Issue of the International Journal of Modern Physics D. Updated to match the published version

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• The Stochastic Axion Scenario
• Inflation after Planck: Judgment Day
• Observational constraints on quantum decoherence during inflation
• A novel way to determine the scale of inflation
• Measuring the duration of inflation with the curvaton
• Do metric fluctuations affect the Higgs dynamics during inflation?
• Stochastic inflation and primordial black holes
• Multiple spectator condensates from inflation
• Testing Inflationary Cosmology