Designing Cyclic Universe Models

We introduce a set of generic conditions for the slow contracting Universe and for a narrowed-down category of models called fast-roll models. We present general conditions for super horizon freeze-out of scalar and tensor perturbations and show that any fast-roll model satisfies them, as in the case of inflation. We are interested in the "Sourced Bounce" scenario, where perturbations are sourced by a $U(1)$ gauge field coupled to a bouncer scalar field. The requirement of a ...

In this work we develop a general phenomenological model of the Cyclic Universe. We construct periodic scale factor a(t) from the requirements of the periodicity of a(t) with no singular behavior at the turning points t_\alpha and t_\omega and the requirement that a unique analytical form of the Hubble function H(z) can be derived from the Hubble function H(t) to fit the data on H(z). We obtain two versions of a(t) called Model A and Model C. Hubble data select Model A. With ...

Using the idea of regularisation of singularities due to the variability of the fundamental constants in cosmology we study the cyclic universe models. We find two models of oscillating and non-singular mass density and pressure ("non-singular" bounce) regularised by varying gravitational constant $G$ despite the scale factor evolution is oscillating and having sharp turning points ("singular" bounce). Both violating (big-bang) and non-violating (phantom) null energy conditio...

In this work we propose a new general model of eternal cyclic Universe. We start from the assumption that quantum gravity corrections can be effectively accounted by the addition of higher order curvature terms in the Lagrangian density for gravity. It is also taken into account that coefficients associated with these curvature corrections will in general be dependent on a curvature regime. We therewith assume no new ingredients, such as extra dimensions, new scalar fields, p...

We propose a simple solution to the magnetogenesis problem based on cyclic cosmology. It is demonstrated that magnetic fields, of sufficient strengths to account for the present observational bounds, can be created in the contracting phase preceding the beginning of the current cosmological cycle. The basic assumption of this model is that the Universe enters a contraction phase essentially empty, characterized by small seed electric fields. In this framework, there is no nee...

We demonstrate that the strict upper bounds on the energy scale of inflation and on the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be somewhat relaxed if we assume that - after an initial period of slow rolling when scales probed today in CMB experiments exit the Hubble radius - the equation of state of the background changes to correspond to an almost marginally accelerating universe. Constructing an actual model in which this happens appears, however, to be unnatural.

This article provides an introductory review of inflation and cosmological perturbation theory. I begin by motivating the need for an epoch of inflation during the early stages of the radiation dominated era, and describe how inflation is typically achieved using scalar fields. Then, after an overview of linear cosmological perturbation theory, I derive the equations governing the perturbations, and outline the generation of the scalar and the tensor perturbations during infl...

Inflationary models, especially those with plateau-type potentials, are consistent with the cosmological data, but inflation itself does not resolve the initial singularity. This singularity is resolved, for example, by the idea of the quantum creation of the Universe from nothing such as the tunneling and no-boundary proposals. The simplest one predicts a closed Universe. Motivated by these facts, we investigate the classical dynamics of a closed Universe with a plateau-type...

We study the bounce and cyclicity realization in the framework of new gravitational scalar-tensor theories. In these theories the Lagrangian contains the Ricci scalar and its first and second derivatives, in a specific combination that makes them free of ghosts, and transformed into the Einstein frame they are proved to be a subclass of bi-scalar extensions of general relativity. We present analytical expressions for the bounce requirements, and we examine the necessary quali...

We address how to construct an infinitely cyclic universe model. A major consideration is to make the entropy cyclic which requires the entropy to be reset to zero in each cycle expansion to turnaround, to contraction, to bounce, etc. Here we reset entropy at the turnaround by selecting the introverse (visible universe) from the extroverse which is generated by the accelerated expansion. In the model, the observed homogeneity is explained by the low entropy at the bounce, The...