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arXiv · 0802.1067

The Phase Transition to Eternal Inflation

Paolo Creminelli·Sergei Dubovsky·Alberto Nicolis·Leonardo Senatore·Matias Zaldarriaga
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Abstract

For slow-roll inflation we study the phase transition to the eternal regime. Starting from a finite inflationary volume, we consider the volume of the universe at reheating as order parameter. We show that there exists a critical value for the classical inflaton speed, \dotϕ^2/H^4 = 3/(2 π^2), where the probability distribution for the reheating volume undergoes a sharp transition. In particular, for sub-critical inflaton speeds all distribution moments become infinite. We show that at the same transition point the system develops a non-vanishing probability of having a strictly infinite reheating volume, while retaining a finite probability for finite values. Our analysis represents the exact quantum treatment of the system at lowest order in the slow-roll parameters and H^2/M_Pl^2.

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Paolo Creminelli, Sergei Dubovsky, Alberto Nicolis, Leonardo Senatore, Matias Zaldarriaga. 2008-09-21. The Phase Transition to Eternal Inflation. https://doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708%2F2008%2F09%2F036

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