Inflation, quintessence, and the origin of mass

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified model where inflation and dark energy originate from the same scalar field, describing a universe evolving from a scale-invariant past fixed point to a future fixed point with spontaneous mass generation, compatible with observations.

Contribution

It introduces a scalar field model linking inflation and dark energy through a crossover between fixed points, with no free parameters beyond $\\Lambda$CDM, and explores quantum gravity implications.

Findings

Predicts a specific relation between tensor-to-scalar ratio and spectral index.

Proposes a universe with no beginning, extending infinitely into the past.

Connects neutrino mass evolution to dark energy through a crossover mechanism.

Abstract

In a unified picture both inflation and present dynamical dark energy arise from the same scalar field. The history of the Universe describes a crossover from a scale invariant "past fixed point" where all particles are massless, to a "future fixed point" for which spontaneous breaking of the exact scale symmetry generates the particle masses. The cosmological solution can be extrapolated to the infinite past in physical time - the universe has no beginning. This is seen most easily in a frame where particle masses and the Planck mass are field-dependent and increase with time. In this "freeze frame" the Universe shrinks and heats up during radiation and matter domination. In the equivalent, but singular Einstein frame cosmic history finds the familiar big bang description. The vicinity of the past fixed point corresponds to inflation. It ends at a first stage of the crossover. A simple model with no more free parameters than $\Lambda$CDM predicts for the primordial fluctuations a relation between the tensor amplitude $r$ and the spectral index $n,r=8.19(1-n)-0.137$. The crossover is completed by a second stage where the beyond-standard-model sector undergoes the transition to the future fixed point. The resulting increase of neutrino masses stops a cosmological scaling solution, relating the present dark energy density to the present neutrino mass. At present our simple model seems compatible with all observational tests. We discuss how the fixed points can be rooted within quantum gravity in a crossover between ultraviolet and infrared fixed points. Then quantum properties of gravity could be tested both by very early and late cosmology.