Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wang, Zhongkai, Gong, Yungui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03349
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909664008994816
author Wang, Zhongkai
Gong, Yungui
author_facet Wang, Zhongkai
Gong, Yungui
contents The quantum-to-classical transition of inflationary perturbations remains an unresolved fundamental problem, and quantum decoherence is one of the promising solutions. By considering quantum perturbations during inflation as an open quantum system interacting with its environment, quantum decoherence can be described by the Lindblad equation. This formalism modifies the evolution of primordial quantum perturbations and consequently alters the power spectrum of curvature perturbations, leading to observable consequences. In this paper, we examine the decoherence process of a polynomial attractor model featuring an ultra-slow-roll stage, extending previous analyses limited to slow-roll scenarios. We numerically compute the correction to the power spectrum due to quantum decoherence, and the results show significant modification only on large scales, with a peak generated by the decoherence correction at the minimum of the power spectrum. Using observational constraints on the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and requiring complete decoherence for relevant scales by the end of inflation, we obtain the constraint on the interaction parameter as $10^{-17}\text{Mpc}^{-1}<k_γ<0.061\text{Mpc}^{-1}$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_03349
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Observational constraints on inflationary decoherence with polynomial attractor model
Wang, Zhongkai
Gong, Yungui
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
The quantum-to-classical transition of inflationary perturbations remains an unresolved fundamental problem, and quantum decoherence is one of the promising solutions. By considering quantum perturbations during inflation as an open quantum system interacting with its environment, quantum decoherence can be described by the Lindblad equation. This formalism modifies the evolution of primordial quantum perturbations and consequently alters the power spectrum of curvature perturbations, leading to observable consequences. In this paper, we examine the decoherence process of a polynomial attractor model featuring an ultra-slow-roll stage, extending previous analyses limited to slow-roll scenarios. We numerically compute the correction to the power spectrum due to quantum decoherence, and the results show significant modification only on large scales, with a peak generated by the decoherence correction at the minimum of the power spectrum. Using observational constraints on the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and requiring complete decoherence for relevant scales by the end of inflation, we obtain the constraint on the interaction parameter as $10^{-17}\text{Mpc}^{-1}<k_γ<0.061\text{Mpc}^{-1}$.
title Observational constraints on inflationary decoherence with polynomial attractor model
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03349