Accelerated cosmological expansion from pseudo-Hermiticity

Abstract

We show that a well-studied pseudo-Hermitian field theory composed of two complex scalar fields can generate accelerated cosmological expansion through a novel mechanism. The dynamics is unique to the pseudo-Hermitian field theory, and it arises in the regime of broken antilinear symmetry, wherein a growth instability from the resulting complex eigenspectrum competes with the Hubble damping. The azimuthal components of the complex scalar fields asymptote to a constant rate of rolling at late times, reminiscent of motion around the infinite staircase of M.C. Escher's lithograph "Ascending and Descending". The resulting centripetal acceleration drives the radial components of the field away from the minimum of the potential, and the system generates a self-sustaining and constant Hubble rate at late times, even when tuning the minimum of the potential such that the classical vacuum energy is vanishing. This result evidences the potential to generate novel and physically relevant dynamics that are unique to pseudo-Hermitian field theories, and that their regimes of broken antilinear symmetry can be physically relevant in dynamical spacetimes.