A Phenomenological Model for the Early Universe

TL;DR

This paper presents a phenomenological model of the early universe during inflation, incorporating non-local quantum effects that influence the universe's evolution, leading to an oscillatory universe with specific curvature properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel non-local quantum effect-based model for inflation dynamics, providing analytical and numerical insights into the universe's oscillatory behavior.

Findings

Inflation ends in a calculable finite time.

The universe exhibits oscillations with a zero mean curvature.

The oscillation frequency is explicitly computed.

Abstract

We consider the description of cosmological dynamics from the onset of inflation by a perfect fluid whose parameters must be consistent with the strength of the enhanced quantum loop effects that can arise during inflation. The source of these effects must be non-local and a simple incarnation of it is studied both analytically and numerically. The resulting evolution stops inflation in a calculable amount of time and leads to an oscillatory universe with a vanishing mean value for the curvature scalar and an oscillation frequency which we compute.