Inflation and dark energy from three-forms

TL;DR

This paper explores how three-forms can drive inflation and dark energy, analyzing their background dynamics, perturbations, and observable signatures, offering a distinct alternative to scalar field models.

Contribution

It investigates the background evolution and perturbations of self-interacting three-form cosmology, highlighting their potential to produce inflation and dark energy with observable effects.

Findings

Identification of (super)-inflating attractors and saddle points in the phase space.

Calculation of scalar and tensor spectra from three-form inflation.

Discussion of stability and equivalence with other formulations.

Abstract

Three-forms can give rise to viable cosmological scenarios of inflation and dark energy with potentially observable signatures distinct from standard single scalar field models. In this study, the background dynamics and linear perturbations of self-interacting three-form cosmology are investigated. The phase space of cosmological solutions possesses (super)-inflating attractors and saddle points which can describe three-form driven inflation or dark energy. The quantum generation and the classical evolution of perturbations is considered. The scalar and tensor spectra from a three-form inflation and the impact from the presence of a three-form on matter perturbations are computed. Stability properties and equivalence of the model with alternative formulations are discussed.