A new approach to non-commutative inflation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a non-commutative quantum field theory-based inflationary model where spacetime fuzziness leads to a bounce and inflation without requiring additional scalar fields.

Contribution

It presents a novel inflationary scenario derived from non-commutative quantum field theory, avoiding the need for ad hoc scalar fields.

Findings

Energy-momentum tensor is finite and dominated by an effective cosmological constant.

Non-commutativity causes violation of the strong energy condition.

Potential for a cosmological bounce and inflation driven by spacetime fuzziness.

Abstract

We propose an inflationary scenario inspired by a recent formulation, in terms of coherent states, of non-commutative quantum field theory. We consider the semiclassical Einstein equations, and we exploit the ultraviolet finiteness of the non-commutative propagator to construct the expectation value of the energy momentum tensor associated to a generic scalar field. It turns out that the latter is always finite and dominated by an effective cosmological constant. By combining this general feature with the intrinsic fuzziness of spacetime, we show that non-commutativity governs the energy density of the early Universe in such a way that the strong energy condition is violated. Thus, there might be a bounce and a subsequent inflationary phase, which does not need any \emph{ad hoc} scalar field.