Inflationary universe from higher derivative quantum gravity coupled with scalar electrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum corrections in higher-derivative quantum gravity coupled with scalar electrodynamics can produce a viable inflationary universe consistent with recent observational data.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of inflation driven by quantum scalar electrodynamics and higher-derivative quantum gravity, incorporating one-loop quantum corrections into inflationary parameters.

Findings

Quantum corrections affect slow-roll parameters and spectral index.

Inflationary models are consistent with Planck and BICEP2/Keck data.

The study demonstrates the viability of inflation in this quantum gravity framework.

Abstract

We study inflation for a quantum scalar electrodynamics model in curved space-time and for higher-derivative quantum gravity (QG) coupled with scalar electrodynamics. The corresponding renormalization-group (RG) improved potential is evaluated for both theories in Jordan frame where non-minimal scalar-gravitational coupling sector is explicitly kept. The role of one-loop quantum corrections is investigated by showing how these corrections enter in the expressions for the slow-roll parameters, the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio and how they influence the bound of the Hubble parameter at the beginning of the primordial acceleration. We demonstrate that the viable inflation maybe successfully realized, so that it turns out to be consistent with last Planck and BICEP2/Keck Array data.