The Inflationary Wavefunction and its Initial Conditions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how initial conditions from a pre-inflationary epoch can influence the inflationary wavefunction and the resulting primordial fluctuation spectrum, potentially leading to observable effects.

Contribution

It introduces a model analyzing the impact of pre-inflationary initial conditions on the inflationary wavefunction and observable primordial fluctuations.

Findings

Initial conditions can significantly affect the primordial spectrum.

Observable effects depend on reheat temperature and number of e-foldings.

Pre-inflationary epoch influences the inflationary wavefunction.

Abstract

We explore the effect of initial conditions on the inflationary wavefunction and their consequences for the observed spectrum of primordial fluctuations. In a class of models with a sudden transition into inflation we find that, for a reasonable set of assumptions about the reheat temperature and the number of e-foldings, it is possible for initial conditions set by a pre-inflationary epoch to have an observable effect.