Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture and Non-thermal post-inflationary history

TL;DR

This paper explores how the Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) constrains inflationary energy scales under non-thermal post-inflationary histories, suggesting such scenarios are incompatible with TCC if it is correct.

Contribution

It analyzes the impact of non-thermal post-inflationary histories on TCC constraints, extending previous results from thermal assumptions.

Findings

TCC bounds on inflation scale are more restrictive with non-thermal histories.

Non-thermal post-inflationary phases can significantly enhance the TCC-imposed limits.

A large class of scenarios with moduli domination are incompatible with TCC.

Abstract

The recently proposed Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) can be used to constrain the energy scale of inflation. The conclusions however depend on the assumptions about post-inflationary history of the Universe. E.g. in the standard case of a thermal post-inflationary history in which the Universe stays radiation dominated at all times from the end of inflation to the epoch of radiation matter equality, TCC has been used to argue that the Hubble parameter during inflation, $H_{\inf}$, is below ${\cal O}(0.1) ~{\rm GeV}$. Cosmological scenarios with a non-thermal post-inflationary history are well-motivated alternatives to the standard picture and it is interesting to find out the possible constraints which TCC imposes on such scenarios. In this work, we find out the amount of enhancement of the TCC compatible bound on $H_{\inf}$ if post-inflationary history before nucleosynthesis was non-thermal. We then argue that if TCC is correct, for a large class of scenarios, it is not possible for the Universe to have undergone a phase of moduli domination.