Abstract. Higher-form flux that extends in all 3+1 dimensions of spacetime is a source of positive vacuum energy that can drive meta-stable eternal inflation. If the flux also threads compact extra dimensions, the spontaneous nucleation of a bubble of brane charged under the flux can trigger a classical cascade that steadily unwinds many units of flux, gradually decreasing the vacuum energy while inflating the bubble, until the cascade ends in the self-annihilation of the brane into radiation. With an initial number of flux quanta Q 0 > ∼ N , this can result in N efolds of inflationary expansion while producing a scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic density perturbations with amplitude and tilt consistent with observation. The power spectrum has an oscillatory component that does not decay away during inflation, relatively large tensor power, and interesting non-Gaussianities. Unwinding inflation fits naturally into the string landscape, and our preliminary conclusion is that consistency with observation can be attained without fine-tuning the string parameters. The initial conditions necessary for the unwinding phase are produced automatically by bubble formation, so long as the critical radius of the bubble is smaller than at least one of the compact dimensions threaded by flux.

When electric-type flux threads compact extra dimensions, a quantum nucleation event can break a flux line and initiate a cascade that unwinds many units of flux. Here, we present a novel mechanism for inflation based on this phenomenon. From the 4D point of view, the cascade begins with the formation of a bubble containing an open Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology, but the vacuum energy inside the bubble is initially only slightly reduced, and subsequently decreases gradually throughout the cascade. If the initial flux number Q0 > ∼ O(100), during the cascade the universe can undergo N > ∼ 60 efolds of inflationary expansion with gradually decreasing Hubble constant, producing a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic density perturbations with amplitude and tilt consistent with observation, and a potentially observable level of non-Gaussianity and tensor modes. The power spectrum has a small oscillatory component that does not decay away during inflation, with a period set approximately by the light-crossing time of the compact dimension(s). Since the ingredients are fluxes threading compact dimensions, this mechanism fits naturally into the string landscape, but does not appear to suffer from the eta problem or require fine-tuning (beyond the usual anthropic requirement of small vacuum energy after reheating).Introduction:

We study inflation in a random multifield potential, using techniques developed by Marsh et al. The potential is a function of a large number of fields, and we choose parameters so that inflation only occurs in regions where the potential is accidentally flat. Using an improved estimate for the dynamics of eigenvalue repulsion, we are able to describe the steepening of the potential as inflation progresses. We provide suggestive arguments, but not a proof, that the resulting scalar power spectrum generically disagrees with observations. We also point out two problematic aspects of the model: there is no well-defined probability distribution for the gradient of the potential, and the evolution of the potential over small distances in field space is unphysical.

We develop a set of controlled, analytic approximations to study the effects of bubble collisions on cosmology. We expand the initial perturbation to the inflaton field caused by the collision in a general power series, and determine its time evolution during inflation in terms of the coefficients in the expansion. In models where the observer's bubble undergoes sufficient slow-roll inflation to solve the flatness problem, in the thin wall limit only one coefficient in the expansion is relevant to observational cosmology, allowing nearly model-independent predictions. We discuss two approaches to determining the initial perturbation to the inflaton and the implications for the sign of the effect (a hot or cold spot on the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature map). Lastly, we analyze the effects of collisions with thick-wall bubbles, i.e. away from the thin-wall limit.

Abstract:We analyze an inflationary model in which part of the power in density perturbations arises due to particle production. The amount of particle production is modulated by an auxiliary field. Given an initial gradient for the auxiliary field, this model produces a hemispherical power asymmetry and a suppression of power at low multipoles similar to those observed by WMAP and Planck in the CMB temperature. It also predicts an additive contribution to δT with support only at very small l that is aligned with the direction of the power asymmetry and has a definite sign, as well as small oscillations in the power spectrum at all l.