General solutions to $\mathcal{N}$-field cosmology with exponential potentials

Abstract

We construct the general analytical solution for the $\mathcal{N}$-field product-exponential potential in an expanding FLRW background. We demonstrate the relevance of this analytical solution in more general contexts for the derivation of estimates for the transitional time between an arbitrary initial state and the slow-roll solutions. In certain cases, these estimates can also be used to demonstrate the non-linear convergence towards the slow-roll solutions. In addition, we extend the solution to include stiff matter as well.

v4: improved discussion, solution generalized to N fields, dynamical systems section left out to match published version; v2: 20+1 pages, 5 figures, corrected typos; v3: small changes