The Inflaton Effective Potential for General $\epsilon$

Abstract

We develop an analytic approximation for the coincidence limit of a massive scalar propagator in an arbitrary spatially flat, homogeneous and isotropic geometry. We employ this to compute the one loop corrections to the inflaton effective potential from a quadratic coupling to a minimally coupled scalar. We also extend the Friedmann equations to cover potentials that depend locally on the Hubble parameter and the first slow roll parameter.

21 pages, 9 figures, uses LaTeX 2e. Version 2 revised for publication, including 2 new figures and 6 pages of new text to show, among other things, that our approximations apply as well to plateau potentials