Spinodal Backreaction During Inflation and Initial Conditions

TL;DR

This paper explores how long wavelength fluctuations during inflation can alter the background dynamics, leading to modifications in spectral tilt, tensor-to-scalar ratio, and smoothing of potential features, using a novel effective potential approach.

Contribution

It introduces a Gaussian integral transformation to model backreaction effects in inflationary potentials within the Hartree approximation, providing new insights into inflationary dynamics.

Findings

Slight modification of spectral tilt

Significant decrease in tensor-to-scalar ratio

Smoothing of potential features

Abstract

We investigate how long wavelength inflationary fluctuations can cause the background field to deviate from classical dynamics. For generic potentials, we show that, in the Hartree approximation, the long wavelength dynamics can be encapsulated by a two-field model operating in an effective potential. The latter is given by a simple Gaussian integral transformation of the original inflationary potential. We use this new expression to study backreaction effects in quadratic, hilltop, flattened, and axion monodromy potentials. We find that the net result of the altered dynamics is to slightly modify the spectral tilt, drastically decrease the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and to effectively smooth over any features of the potential, with the size of these deviations set by the initial value of power in large scale modes and the shape of the potential during the entire evolution.