The Effects of Potential Shape on Inhomogenous Inflation. (arXiv:1910.12547v1 [astro-ph.CO])

The Effects of Potential Shape on Inhomogenous Inflation. (arXiv:1910.12547v1 [astro-ph.CO])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Aurrekoetxea_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Josu C. Aurrekoetxea</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Clough_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Katy Clough</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Flauger_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Raphael Flauger</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lim_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Eugene A. Lim</a>

We study the robustness of single-field inflation against inhomogeneities. We
derive a simple analytic criterion on the shape of the potential for successful
inflation in the presence of inhomogeneities, and demonstrate its validity
using full 3+1 dimensional numerical relativity simulations on several classes
of popular models of single-field inflation. We find that models with convex
potentials are more robust to inhomogeneities than those with concave
potentials, and that concave potentials that vary on super-Planckian scales are
significantly more robust than those that vary on sub-Planckian scales.

We study the robustness of single-field inflation against inhomogeneities. We
derive a simple analytic criterion on the shape of the potential for successful
inflation in the presence of inhomogeneities, and demonstrate its validity
using full 3+1 dimensional numerical relativity simulations on several classes
of popular models of single-field inflation. We find that models with convex
potentials are more robust to inhomogeneities than those with concave
potentials, and that concave potentials that vary on super-Planckian scales are
significantly more robust than those that vary on sub-Planckian scales.

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