Origin of inflation in CFT driven cosmology: $R^2$-gravity and non-minimally coupled inflaton models

TL;DR

This paper derives a new hill-top inflation model from conformal field theory initial conditions, showing how $R^2$-gravity and non-minimal inflaton models can produce inflation consistent with CMB data through instanton solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed derivation of hill-top inflation from CFT initial conditions, linking instanton solutions with $R^2$-gravity and non-minimal inflaton models, and explores their implications for cosmology.

Findings

Instanton solutions describe underbarrier oscillations of inflaton and scale factor.

Models produce inflation consistent with CMB parameters.

Logarithmic loop corrections generate hill-like inflaton potentials.

Abstract

We present a detailed derivation of the recently suggested new type of hill-top inflation [arXiv:1509.07270] originating from the microcanonical density matrix initial conditions in cosmology driven by conformal field theory (CFT). The cosmological instantons of topology $S^1\times S^3$, which set up these initial conditions, have the shape of a garland with multiple periodic oscillations of the scale factor of the spatial $S^3$-section. They describe underbarrier oscillations of the inflaton and scale factor in the vicinity of the inflaton potential maximum, which gives a sufficient amount of inflation required by the known CMB data. We build the approximation of two coupled harmonic oscillators for these garland instantons and show that they can generate inflation consistent with the parameters of the CMB primordial power spectrum in the non-minimal Higgs inflation model and in $R^2$ gravity. In particular, the instanton solutions provide smallness of inflationary slow-roll parameters $\epsilon$ and $\eta<0$ and their relation $\epsilon\sim\eta^2$ characteristic of these two models. We present the mechanism of formation of hill-like inflaton potentials, which is based on logarithmic loop corrections to the asymptotically shift-invariant tree level potentials of these models in the Einstein frame. We also discuss the role of $R^2$-gravity as an indispensable finite renormalization tool in the CFT driven cosmology, which guarantees the non-dynamical (ghost free) nature of its scale factor and special properties of its cosmological garland type instantons. Finally, as a solution to the problem of hierarchy between the Planckian scale and the inflation scale we discuss the concept of a hidden sector of conformal higher spin fields.