Conditions for (no) eternal inflation

2019/05/31 by Tom Rudelius
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Physics and Astronomy · #Construct (python library) #Context (archaeology) #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #De Sitter universe #Eternal inflation #Inflation (cosmology) #Scalar (mathematics) #Scalar field #Statistical Mechanics and Entropy #Stochastic processes and financial applications #gr-qc #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2019/08/009

38 pages, 1 figure; v2 references added; v3 matches publication version

openalex created_date 2019/05/29 · openalex publication_date 2019/08/08 · arxiv created 2019/08/13 · arxiv updated 2019/08/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We construct analytic and numerical solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation that arises in the context of stochastic inflation. We use these solutions to derive necessary conditions for eternal inflation on the higher derivatives of the scalar field potential and examine the prospects for eternal inflation in a variety of popular models. We note similarities between the conditions needed to avoid eternal inflation and several recently-proposed Swampland criteria, which leads us to speculate on the possibility that the de Sitter Swampland conjectures should be viewed as approximate consequences of a No Eternal Inflation principle.

Citations

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