Precision Inflationary Predictions: Impact of Accurate End-of-Inflation Dynamics

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Nandi, Debottam, Yadav, Simran, Kaur, Manjeet
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Nandi, Debottam
Yadav, Simran
Kaur, Manjeet
author_facet Nandi, Debottam
Yadav, Simran
Kaur, Manjeet
contents The precision era of cosmology demands accurate theoretical predictions from inflationary models. In quantitative reheating analyses, inflationary observables depend sensitively on the number of e-folds between horizon exit and the end of inflation, $N_k$, whose determination relies on slow-roll approximations near the end of inflation. Since inflation ends when the first slow-roll parameter reaches unity, even modest inaccuracies in this approximation can shift the end of inflation and thereby alter $N_k$, leading to modifications in predicted observables -- including those evaluated at leading-order. While such effects are implicit in standard treatments, their quantitative impact on observable constraints has not been systematically assessed. In this work, we first re-evaluate leading-order slow-roll predictions using an improved determination of $N_k$ within a simple quantitative reheating framework, and then incorporate higher-order slow-roll corrections consistently with the revised background evolution. Applying this framework to the Starobinsky model, we find that improved end-of-inflation dynamics alone can induce shifts of order $Δn_s \sim 10^{-3}$, while higher-order slow-roll corrections provide additional refinements at the $\sim 4 \times 10^{-4}$ level. The cumulative effect yields a maximum shift of $Δn_s \sim 1.2 \times 10^{-3}$ within the allowed reheating range. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic decomposition of end-of-inflation corrections and their individual contributions to $n_s$ in the Starobinsky model, with implications for model discrimination in next-generation CMB surveys. These results demonstrate that an accurate determination of the end of inflation is essential for precision tests of inflationary models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_01713
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Precision Inflationary Predictions: Impact of Accurate End-of-Inflation Dynamics
Nandi, Debottam
Yadav, Simran
Kaur, Manjeet
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
The precision era of cosmology demands accurate theoretical predictions from inflationary models. In quantitative reheating analyses, inflationary observables depend sensitively on the number of e-folds between horizon exit and the end of inflation, $N_k$, whose determination relies on slow-roll approximations near the end of inflation. Since inflation ends when the first slow-roll parameter reaches unity, even modest inaccuracies in this approximation can shift the end of inflation and thereby alter $N_k$, leading to modifications in predicted observables -- including those evaluated at leading-order. While such effects are implicit in standard treatments, their quantitative impact on observable constraints has not been systematically assessed. In this work, we first re-evaluate leading-order slow-roll predictions using an improved determination of $N_k$ within a simple quantitative reheating framework, and then incorporate higher-order slow-roll corrections consistently with the revised background evolution. Applying this framework to the Starobinsky model, we find that improved end-of-inflation dynamics alone can induce shifts of order $Δn_s \sim 10^{-3}$, while higher-order slow-roll corrections provide additional refinements at the $\sim 4 \times 10^{-4}$ level. The cumulative effect yields a maximum shift of $Δn_s \sim 1.2 \times 10^{-3}$ within the allowed reheating range. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic decomposition of end-of-inflation corrections and their individual contributions to $n_s$ in the Starobinsky model, with implications for model discrimination in next-generation CMB surveys. These results demonstrate that an accurate determination of the end of inflation is essential for precision tests of inflationary models.
title Precision Inflationary Predictions: Impact of Accurate End-of-Inflation Dynamics
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.01713