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Informal Pizza SeminarImplications of minimal-duration inflationJim ClineMcGillIf inflation lasted for not much longer than the minimal amount of expansion required by observations, interesting distortions could occur in the fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background radiation. I discuss some examples, including the possibility that fields coupled to the inflaton were oscillating, or that a period of FRW-like expansion preceded inflation. I show how these kinds of effects are constrained, and perhaps suggested by, the recent WMAP observations. In particular, I will discuss the significance of the low quadrupole moment of the CMB and the possible running of the spectral index of scalar fluctuations.
Tuesday, September 23rd 2003, 15:30
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, room 326 |