Inflation with the Starobinsky potential in Loop Quantum Cosmology

TL;DR

This paper explores how loop quantum cosmology modifies the inflationary scenario with the Starobinsky potential, showing that quantum effects are consistent with observations and may produce observable signatures.

Contribution

It provides a self-consistent pre-inflationary extension of Starobinsky inflation within loop quantum cosmology, demonstrating robustness and observational compatibility.

Findings

Quantum bounce precedes inflation, aligning with observations.

Observable quantum gravitational corrections to the power spectrum are possible.

The inflationary scenario remains robust under different potentials.

Abstract

A self-consistent pre-inflationary extension of the inflationary scenario with the Starobinsky potential, favored by Planck data, is studied using techniques from loop quantum cosmology (LQC). The results are compared with the quadratic potential previously studied. Planck scale completion of the inflationary paradigm and observable signatures of LQC are found to be robust under the change of the inflaton potential. The entire evolution, from the quantum bounce all the way to the end of inflation, is compatible with observations. Occurrence of desired slow-roll phase is almost inevitable and natural initial conditions exist for both the background and perturbations for which the resulting power spectrum agrees with recent observations. There exist initial data for which the quantum gravitational corrections to the power spectrum are potentially observable.