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The Universe During Epochs of Accelerating Expansion

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The Universe During Epochs of Accelerating Expansion The Universe During Epochs of Accelerating Expansion Charlotte Owen Department of Physics Lancaster University June 2019 A thesis submitted to Lancaster University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Science and Technology Supervised by Dr. Konstantinos Dimopoulos Abstract Cosmic inflation, the accelerated expansion of the early Universe, is an accepted pillar in the foundations of modern cosmology. This is due mainly to its success at explaining several anomalies between observations and the existing Hot Big Bang model of the Universe, but a specific model is not agreed upon in the literature. The Universe has also recently been observed to enter another phase of accelerating expansion, driven by an unexplained mechanism called `dark energy'. The research presented in this thesis grows organically; starting with an investigation into novel inflationary models and developing into quintessential inflation models. The latter explain both the primordial inflation and dark energy observations using one minimal framework. A new family of inflation models is presented, which excellently match observations for natural parameter values, and a derivation from su- pergravity is demonstrated. A period of thermal inflation allows the supergravity realisation of hybrid inflation to be realigned with ob- servations. A new approach to inflection-point inflation is developed, which is considerably less fine-tuned and exotic than previous models. Two novel quintessential inflation models are introduced, the first embedded in α-attractors - a compelling framework of inflationary model building and the second in Gauss-Bonnet gravity - an extension to General Relativity. Detailed investigations of reheating after inflation are undertaken, fo- cusing on gravitational reheating and instant preheating, analysing the necessary constraints including those from supergravity. Along the way, there is a brief diversion into primordial black holes, investi- gating how a slow reheating period affects their formation rates. Acknowledgements There are many people I owe thanks to for their support and encour- agement during my PhD, but the following deserve a special mention. My first and foremost thanks go to my supervisor, Kostas, whose belief in my ability and unwavering championing has been a steadfast pillar of my PhD studies. His influence has made me a better physicist as well as a better person and his impact cannot be over-emphasised. To my Mum, whom I love dearly, a huge thanks for too many things to list. I cannot find the words to do you justice, except to say thank you for being ever-present, constantly and unreservedly there. Also to my brother, Alex, who keeps me on my toes but always has my back. To my flatmates, Jim and Miguel, who have made my time in Lan- caster very special, and have made more of an impact on my life than I think they realise. To Adam and Ben, with whom I started this journey, Lancaster wouldn't have been the same without you, even when we were separated by continents. To Grace, a big thanks for distracting me from my PhD with numerous adventures, I hope we never stop travelling the world together. To the girls in London, patiently awaiting my return, and my friends elsewhere who remind me that life is bigger than the research bubble in Lancaster, thank you. To the cosmology group at Lancaster for engaging discussions and continued support. In particular James, who brought the group to life and Leonora, whose passion for physics continues to inspire me. Finally, I wish to thank all of my collaborators that have patiently shared their enthusiasm and expertise with me: Mindaugas Karci- auskas, Bernard Carr, Tommi Tenkanen, Antonio Racioppi and Chris Longden, who have all been a pleasure to work with, but especially Carsten van de Bruck, who made my first collaborative project such a positive experience. Declaration This thesis is my own work and no portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification at this or any other institute of learning. Contents List of Figures viii List of Tables xv 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Conventions . .3 2 Background Theory 5 2.1 Brief History of the Universe . .5 2.1.1 The Very Beginning . .7 2.1.2 The Electro-weak Scale Onwards . .9 2.1.3 The CMB as an Observational Probe . 12 2.2 Describing the Dynamics of the Universe . 14 2.2.1 Einstein Field Equations . 15 2.2.2 F(L)RW Metric Solutions to the EFE . 17 2.2.3 The Evolution of the Universe . 19 2.3 Problems with the HBB . 22 2.3.1 Flatness Problem . 22 2.3.2 Horizon Problem . 24 2.3.3 The Origin of Structure . 26 2.3.4 Additional Considerations for the HBB . 28 2.4 Introducing Inflation . 28 2.4.1 Solving the Problems of the HBB . 29 2.4.2 Accelerated Expansion with a Scalar Field . 31 iii CONTENTS 2.4.3 Slow-roll Inflation . 33 2.4.4 How Much Slow-roll Inflation? . 36 2.4.5 Inflationary Observables . 40 2.5 Inflationary Model Building . 50 2.5.1 Global and Local Supersymmetry . 51 2.5.2 The η Problem of Supergravity . 52 2.6 Models of Inflation . 53 2.6.1 Large Field vs Small Field Inflation . 54 2.6.2 The Lyth Bound . 56 2.6.3 Super-Planckian Field Variations . 57 2.6.4 Hybrid Inflation . 58 2.6.5 Thermal Inflation . 60 2.6.6 Eternal Inflation . 63 2.6.7 f(R) Theories . 64 2.7 Reheating the Universe after Inflation . 64 2.7.1 Perturbative Reheating . 66 2.7.2 Preheating . 70 2.7.3 Instant Preheating . 73 2.7.4 Gravitational Reheating . 76 2.7.5 Constraints on Reheating . 78 2.8 Dark Energy and Quintessential Inflation . 79 2.8.1 ΛCDM............................. 80 2.8.1.1 The Cosmological Constant Problem . 81 2.8.1.2 Future Horizons Problem of ΛCDM . 82 2.8.2 Quintessence . 82 2.8.3 Quintessential Inflation . 84 2.8.4 Early-time Kinematics of Quintessential Inflation . 85 2.8.4.1 Gravitational Waves During Kination . 87 2.8.5 Late-time Kinematics of Quintessential Inflation . 89 iv CONTENTS 3 Power-law Plateau Inflation: A New Family of Inflationary Models 94 3.1 Introduction . 94 3.2 Power-law Plateau Inflation . 96 3.3 A Low e-folding Number . 99 3.3.1 The Reheating Temperature . 99 3.3.2 Thermal Inflation . 101 3.4 A Single Mass Scale . 103 3.5 Large-field Power-law Plateau Inflation . 104 3.6 Supersymmetric Power-law Plateau Inflation . 105 3.6.1 Global Supersymmetry . 106 3.6.2 Local Supersymmetry . 107 3.7 Discussion . 112 4 How Thermal Inflation Can Save Minimal Hybrid Inflation in Supergravity 114 4.1 Introduction . 114 4.2 Minimal Hybrid Inflation in Supergravity . 116 4.3 Thermal Inflation to Reduce N∗ ................... 119 4.4 Results . 120 4.5 Discussion . 123 5 Loop Inflection-Point Inflation 125 5.1 Introduction . 125 5.2 Loop Inflection-point Inflation . 126 5.3 Computing N∗ and ξ ......................... 130 5.4 Inflationary Observables . 133 5.5 Higher-order Non-renormalisable Terms . 133 5.6 The Inflationary Energy Scale and Reheating Temperature . 136 5.7 Additional Considerations . 140 5.7.1 Negative δ Values . 140 5.7.2 A Diffusion Zone Around φf ................. 141 v CONTENTS 5.7.3 Ultra Slow-roll Inflation . 143 5.8 Discussion . 145 6 Primordial Black Hole Formation During Slow Reheating After Inflation 147 6.1 Introduction . 147 6.2 PBH Production . 149 6.3 The Effect of a Slow Reheating Period . 152 6.4 Primordial Black Hole Mass Function . 156 6.5 Discussion . 163 7 Quintessential Inflation with α-attractors 164 7.1 Introduction . 164 7.2 The Potential and its Embedding in α-Attractors . 165 7.2.1 Initial Conditions . 169 7.3 Inflation . 169 7.3.1 Inflationary Energy Scale and e-folding Number . 171 7.3.2 Parameter Space from Observational Constraints . 174 7.4 Freezing of the Scalar Field . 176 7.5 Quintessence . 179 7.5.1 Observational Constraints on Quintessence . 181 7.5.1.1 Transient Accelerated Expansion . 181 7.5.1.2 Eternal Accelerated Expansion . 183 7.6 Gravitational Reheating . 185 7.7 Considerations for Gravitational Reheating . 189 7.7.1 Overproduction of Gravitinos . 189 7.7.2 Overproduction of Gravitational Waves . 190 7.8 Instant Preheating . 191 7.9 Considerations for Instant Preheating . 195 7.9.1 Radiation Domination . 197 7.9.2 Backreaction . 197 7.9.3 Overproduction of Gravitinos . 199 vi CONTENTS 7.9.4 Overproduction of Gravitational Waves . 200 7.10 Additional Considerations . 201 7.10.1 Suppressed Interactions . 201 7.11 Results . 204 7.12 Discussion . 208 8 Gauss-Bonnet Quintessential Inflation 213 8.1 Introduction . 213 8.2 Gauss-Bonnet Gravity and the Model . 214 8.3 Inflation . 217 8.4 After Inflation . 219 8.4.1 Kinetic Regime . 221 8.4.2 Gauss-Bonnet Regime . 222 8.4.3 Stitching and Boundary Condition . 222 8.5 Reheating . 226 8.6 Dark Energy Today . 227 8.7 Constraints and Results . 230 8.7.1 Gravitational Waves in Gauss-Bonnet Gravity . 231 8.8 Discussion . 233 9 Conclusion 235 References 242 vii List of Figures 2.1 Depicts how two different physical wavelength scales grow with the scale factor, and the corresponding behaviour of the horizon in the.
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