Defying eternal inflation in warm inflation with a negative running

• Published in: Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 2024-02, Vol.2024 (2), p.6
• Main Authors: Montefalcone, Gabriele, Ramos, Rudnei O., Vicente, Gustavo S., Freese, Katherine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Cosmic microwave background; Curvature; inflation; Inflation (cosmology); Inflation and CMBR theory; initial conditions and eternal universe; Perturbation
• ISSN: 1475-7516; 1475-7516
• DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/02/006

It was pointed out previously [1] that a sufficiently negative running of the spectral index of curvature perturbations from (ordinary i.e. cold) inflation is able to prevent eternal inflation from ever occurring. Here, we reevaluate those original results, but in the context of warm inflation, in which a substantial radiation component (produced by the inflaton) exists throughout the inflationary period. We demonstrate that the same general requirements found in the context of ordinary (cold) inflation also hold true in warm inflation; indeed an even tinier amount of negative running is sufficient to prevent eternal inflation. This is particularly pertinent, as models featuring negative running are more generic in warm inflation scenarios. Finally, the condition for the existence of eternal inflation in cold inflation — that the curvature perturbation amplitude exceed unity on superhorizon scales — becomes more restrictive in the case of warm inflation. The curvature perturbations must be even larger, i.e. even farther out on the potential, away from the part of the potential where observables, e.g. in the Cosmic Microwave Background, are produced.