A unified geometric description of the Universe: from inflation to late-time acceleration without an inflaton nor a cosmological constant

Abstract

We present a cosmological model arising from a gravitational theory with an infinite tower of higher-order curvature invariants that can reproduce the entire evolution of the Universe: from inflation to late-time acceleration, without invoking an inflaton nor a cosmological constant. The theory is Einsteinian-like. The field equations for a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker metric are of second-order and can reproduce a late-time evolution that is consistent with the acceleration provided by the cosmological constant at low redshift. Our results force us to reinterpret the nature of dark energy, becoming a mechanism that is inherited solely from the geometry of spacetime.

Accepted in Physics Letters B. 13 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (11)

• The Hubble Hunter's Guide
• Einsteinian cubic gravity
• Four-dimensional black holes in Einsteinian cubic gravity
• Aspects of general higher-order gravities
• Gravity in the Era of Equality: Towards solutions to the Hubble problem without fine-tuned initial conditions
• On the strong coupling of Einsteinian Cubic Gravity and its generalisations
• Extremal Rotating Black Holes in Einsteinian Cubic Gravity
• Anisotropic instability in a higher order gravity theory
• Novel higher-curvature variations of $R^2$ inflation
• On the viability of the evolution of the universe with Geometric Inflation
• Inflationary predictions of Geometric Inflation

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Generalized quasi-topological gravities: the whole shebang
• On the classification of Generalized Quasitopological Gravities
• Inflation and the cosmological (not-so) constant in unimodular gravity
• Catenoid Inspired Hyperbolic Wormhole Geometry
• A new approach to $P-V$ phase transitions: Einstein gravity and holographic type dark energy
• Interpreting the Cosmic History of the Universe Through Five-Dimensional Supergravity
• First-order phase transitions and cosmic evolution: thermodynamic approach to generalized holographic dark energy