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                                                                     Astroparticle Physics 34 (2011) 587–590



                                                                Contents lists available at ScienceDirect


                                                                  Astroparticle Physics
                                              journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/astropart




Inflation from R2 gravity: A new approach using nonlinear electrodynamics
Christian Corda a,b,⇑,1, Herman J. Mosquera Cuesta c,d,e,2
a
  International Institute for Theoretical Physics and Mathematics Einstein-Galilei, via Bruno Buozzi 47, 59100 Prato, Italy
b
  Institute for Basic Research, P. O. Box 1577, Palm Harbor, FL 34682, USA
c
  Instituto de Cosmologia, Relatividade e Astrofìsica (ICRA-BR), Centro Brasilero de Pesquisas Fisicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290 - 180 Urca Rio de Janeiro - RJ Brazil
d
  ICRANet, International Coordinating Center, Piazza della Repubblica,10, 65122 Pescara, Italy
e                                                                                                   
  Departamento de Fìsica, Universidade Vale do Acaraù, Av. da Universidade 850, Campus da Betania, CEP 62.040-370, Sobral, Ceara, Brazil




a r t i c l e          i n f o                           a b s t r a c t

Article history:                                         We discuss another approach regarding the inflation from the R2 theory of gravity originally proposed by
Received 26 March 2009                                   Starobinski. A non-singular early cosmology is proposed, where, adding a nonlinear electrodynamics
Received in revised form 22 November 2010                Lagrangian to the high-order action, a bouncing is present and a power-law inflation is obtained. In
Accepted 2 December 2010
                                                         the model the Ricci scalar R works like an inflaton field.
Available online 8 December 2010
                                                                                                                       Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Inflation
Nonlinear lagrangian




1. Introduction                                                                              dynamics can be achieved by extending general relativity [2–4].
                                                                                             In this different context, it is not required to search candidates
    The accelerated expansion of the Universe that is currently pur-                         for Dark Energy and Dark Matter, which until to date, have not
ported from observations of SNe Ia suggests that cosmological                                been found, but rather it claims that only the ‘‘observed’’ ingredi-
dynamics is dominated by a ‘‘new’’ substance of the universe con-                            ents: curvature and baryon matter, have to be taken into account.
stituents dubbed as Dark Energy, which is able to provide a large                            Considering this point of view, one can posit that gravity is not
negative pressure to account for the late-time accelerate expansion.                         scale-invariant [5]. In so doing, one allows for a room for alterna-
This is the standard picture, in which such a new ingredient is con-                         tive theories to be opened [6–8]. In principle, interesting Dark En-
sidered as a source of the right-hand-side of the field equations. It is                      ergy and Dark Matter models can be built by considering f(R)
posed that it should be some form of un-clustered non-zero vacuum                            theories of gravity [5,9] (here R is the Ricci curvature scalar).
energy which, together with the clustered Dark Matter, drives the                                In this perspective, even the sensitive detectors of gravitational
global dynamics. This is the so-called ‘‘concordance model’’ (KCDM)                          waves like bars and interferometers (i.e. those which are currently
which gives, in agreement with the data analysis of the observations                         in operation and the ones which are in a phase of planning and pro-
of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR), Lyman                                   posal stages [10,11]), could, in principle, test the physical consis-
Limit Systems (LLS) and type la supernovae (SNe Ia), a good frame-                           tency of general relativity or of any other theory of gravitation.
work for understanding the currently observed Universe. However,                             This is because in the context of Extended Theories of Gravity
the KCDM presents several shortcomings as the well known ‘‘coin-                             important differences with respect to general relativity show up
cidence’’ and ‘‘cosmological constant’’ problems [1].                                        after studying the linearized theory [12–15].
    An alternative approach to explain the purported late-time                                   In this paper, another approach regarding the inflation from the
acceleration of the universe is to change the left hand side of the                          R2 theory of gravity, which is the simplest among f(R) theories and
field equations, and to inquire whether the observed cosmic                                   was been originally proposed by Starobinski [16], is shown. A non-
                                                                                             singular early cosmology is proposed, where, adding a nonlinear
 ⇑ Corresponding author. Addresses: Associazione Scientifica Galileo Galilei, Via             electrodynamics Lagrangian to the high-order action, a bouncing
Pier Cironi 16-59100 PRATO, Italy. Institute for Basic Research, P. O. Box 1577, Palm        is present and a power-law inflation is obtained. In the model
Harbor, FL 34682, USA.                                                                       the Ricci scalar R works like an inflaton field.
    E-mail addresses: christian.corda@ego-gw.it (C. Corda), herman@icra.it (H.J.                 In the general picture of high order theories of gravity, recently
Mosquera Cuesta).                                                                            the R2 theory has been analysed in various interesting frameworks,
  1
    Partially supported by a Research Grant of The R.M. Santilli Foundations Number
RMS-TH-5735A2310.
                                                                                             see [17,18] for example.
  2
    Fellow of Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientìfico e                          We recall that extensions of the traditional Maxwell electromag-
Tecnològico (FUNCAP), Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.                                              netic Lagrangian, which take into account high order terms of the

0927-6505/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2010.12.002
Author's personal copy


588                                           C. Corda, H.J. Mosquera Cuesta / Astroparticle Physics 34 (2011) 587–590


electromagnetic scalar F, have been used in cosmological models                           b can be obtained by varing the action in respect to R. It is
[19], gravitational redshifts of neutron stars [20] and pulsars [21].
                                                                                          @ðR þ aR2 Þ
Moreover, a particular nonlinear Lagrangian has been analysed in                     a3               dR À bdR ¼ 0;                                            ð8Þ
the context of the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft anomaly [22].                                     @R
                                                                                     which gives
2. Action and lagrangian
                                                                                               @ðR þ aR2 Þ
                                                                                     b ¼ a3                ¼ a3 ð2aR þ 1Þ:                                     ð9Þ
      Let us consider the high order action [16–18]                                                @R
      Z
                   ffi
           4 pffiffiffiffiffiffi
                                                                                         Thus, substituting in Eq. (7) one obtains
S¼        d x Àg R þ aR2 þ Lm :                                            ð1Þ                  Z     n                                                    o
                                                                                     S ¼ 2p2        dt À2a3 aR2 À 6a2 að2aR þ 1Þ À 6aðaÞ2 ð2aR þ 1Þ þ a3 Lm :
                                                                                                                      €               _
   Such an Eq. (1) is a particular choice in respect to the well
known canonical one of General Relativity (the Einstein–Hilbert                                                                                            ð10Þ
action [23]) which is
      Z                                                                                 The term À6a2 að2aR þ 1Þ is critical as it contains a second
                                                                                                         €
           4 pffiffiffiffiffiffi
                   ffi
S¼        d x Àg ðR þ Lm Þ:                                                ð2Þ       derivative of a. Let us integrate it. It is
                                                                                          Z
                                                                                                 2
    We are going to show that the action (1), applied to the Fried-                  À6       dta að2aR þ 1Þ ¼ À6a2 að2aR þ 1Þ
                                                                                                   €                _
              `
mann–Lemaıtre–Robertson–Walker Cosmology, generates a non-                                                        Z     h                        i
singular inflationary phase of the Universe where the Ricci scalar                                              þ 6 dt 2aa2 aR þ 2aðaÞ2 ð2aR þ 1Þ
                                                                                                                              __   _
acts like inflaton, and a bouncing is present, if Lm is the non linear                                           Z     h                       i
electrodynamics Lagrangian. Note that in this letter we work with                                            ¼ 6 dt 2aa2 aR þ 2aðaÞ2 ð2aR þ 1Þ ;
                                                                                                                           __    _                         ð11Þ
8pG = 1, c = 1 and  = 1.
                    h
    Inflationary models of the early Universe were analysed in the                    where we have taken into account that the term outside the integral
early and middles 1980’s (see [24] for a review), starting from an                   is equal to zero as it is a pure divergence.
idea of Starobinski [16] and Guth [25]. These are cosmological                           Substituting in Eq. (10), one gets
models in which the Universe undergoes a brief phase of a very ra-                              Z     n                                             o
pid expansion in early times. In this context the expansion could be                 S ¼ 2p2        dt Àa3 aR2 þ 12aa2 aR þ 6aðaÞ2 ð2aR þ 1Þ þ a3 Lm :
                                                                                                                       __      _
power-law or exponential in time. Inflationary models provide
solutions to the horizon and flatness problems and contain a mech-                                                                                          ð12Þ
anism which creates perturbations in all fields [24].                                      Then, the Lagrangian is
    In Cosmology, the Universe is seen like a dynamic and thermo-
dynamic system in which test masses (i.e. the ‘‘particles’’) are the                 L ¼ Àa3 aR2 þ 12aa2 aR þ 6aðaÞ2 ð2aR þ 1Þ þ a3 Lm :
                                                                                                         __      _                                         ð13Þ
galaxies that are stellar systems with a number of the order of                           The energy function associated to the Lagrangian is [23]
109 À 1011 stars [23]. Galaxies are located in clusters and super
clusters, and observations show that, on cosmological scales, their                           @L    @L _
                                                                                     EL ¼        _
                                                                                                 aþ    R À L:                                              ð14Þ
distribution is uniform. This is also confirmed by the WMAP data                                _
                                                                                              @a     _
                                                                                                    @R
on the Cosmic Background Radiation [26,27]. These assumption                              Combining Eq. (13) with Eq. (14), the condition
can be summarized in the so called Cosmological Principle: the                       EL ¼ 0;                                                               ð15Þ
Universe is homogeneous everywhere and isotropic around every
                                                                                                                                                      1 da
point. Cosmological Principle simplifies the analysis of the large                    together with the definition of the Hubble constant, i.e. H ¼     a dt
                                                                                                                                                           ,   and
scale structure, because it implies that the proper distances be-                    with a little algebra gives
tween any two galaxies is given by an universal scale factor which                                  _
                                                                                              Lm    R
is the same for any couple of galaxies [23].                                         H2 ¼         ÀH :                                                     ð16Þ
                                                                                              3aR   R
    In this framework, the cosmological line – element is the well
                           `
known Friedmann–Lemaıtre–Robertson–Walker one, and for a                                                                             _
                                                                                          From the Euler–Lagrange equation for a and a, i.e. [23]
sake of simplicity we will consider the flat case, because the WMAP                         
                                                                                     @L d @L
data are in agreement with it [26,27]:                                                 ¼       ;                                                           ð17Þ
                                                                                             _
                                                                                     @a dt @ a
  2           2           2     2         2
ds ¼ Àdt þ a2 ðdz þ dx þ dy Þ:                                             ð3Þ
                                                                                     one gets
Following [23] we also get
                                                                                     €     _ 2Lm :
                                                                                     R þ 3HR ¼                                                             ð18Þ
          À1 0            0     0                                                              3a
                      2
          0       þa      0     0
g lm ¼                                ;                                    ð4Þ           An important question is where Eq. (15) comes from [29]. In
          0       0       þa2   0                                                    general relativity, due to the reparametrization invariance of the
          0       0       0     þa2                                                  time coordinate, the total energy (including the contribution from
                                                                                     the gravity sector) vanishes [29]. In the action (12), however, there
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 Àg ¼ a3 ;                                                                 ð5Þ       is not the reparametrization invariance because the total derivative
                                                                                     terms are dropped [29]. Then, one can think that the total energy
and
                                                                                    does not always vanish [29]. We clarify this point as it follows.
                    2 #
           1 da_    _
                    a                                                                Let us start by the original action (1) from which the action (12)
R ¼ À6           þ       :                                                 ð6Þ
            a dt    a                                                                arises. Let us consider the conformal transformation [30]

      One can use the Lagrange multipliers putting                                   g ab ¼ e2U g ab ;
                                                                                     ~                                                                     ð19Þ
       Z          (                       
                                        2 #        )
                                  €     _                                            where the conformal rescaling
                                  a     a
S ¼ 2p2 dt a3 ðR þ aR2 Þ À b R þ 6 þ 6        þ a3 Lm :                    ð7Þ
                                  a     a                                            e2U ¼ 2aR þ 1                                                         ð20Þ
Author's personal copy


                                             C. Corda, H.J. Mosquera Cuesta / Astroparticle Physics 34 (2011) 587–590                                                    589


has been chosen. By applying the conformal transformation (19) to                       One gets
the action (1) the conformal equivalent Hilbert–Einstein action                               rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
       pffiffiffiffiffiffiffih               i                                                         B0    2À 2                      Á
       4
            ~ e                                                                     a2 ¼ pffiffiffi        t þ 12c1 :                                                         ð29Þ
A ¼ d x Àg R þ LðU; U;a Þ þ Lm                                          ð21Þ                 a 3
                                                                                        This expression is not singular for c1  0. In this case we see that
is obtained. LðU; U;a Þ is the conformal scalar field contribution de-
                                                                                    at the instant t = 0 a minimum value of the scale factor is present:
rived from
                                                                                       B0 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
e                                      1                                            a2 ¼ pffiffiffi 8c1 :
                                                                                     min                                                                                ð30Þ
R ab ¼ Rab þ 2 U;a U;b À g ab U;d U;d À g ab U;d ;
                                              ;d                        ð22Þ                    a
                                       2                                                                                      pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
                                                                                       This also implies that, for a value t ¼ 12c1 , the energy density
and                                                                                 Àq reaches a maximum value qmax = 1/64c1. For smaller values of t
          À                  Á                                                      the energy density decreases, vanishing a t = 0, while the pressure
e
R ¼ eÀ2U þ R À 6ÃU À 6U;d U;d :                                         ð23Þ        becomes negative [19].
                                                                                       In this way, the condition of inflation P À q⁄  0 [24] gives the
    Clearly, the reparametrization invariance of the time coordinate                inflationary solutions for Eqs. (16) and (18), if one assumes that
is consistent with the new action (21) in the conformal Einstein                    the Ricci scalar R acts like inflaton:
frame and the total energy (including the contribution from the
gravity sector) vanishes in this case too. One could object that                    RðtÞ ’ ð1 þ Ht=bÞ2 ;
the energy in the conformal Einstein frame is different with respect                                                                                                    ð31Þ
                                                                                    ainf ðtÞ ’ ð1 þ Ht=bÞwþ1=2
to the energy in the original Jordan frame, but in Ref. [31] it has
been shown that the two conformal frames are energetically equiv-                   with b ’ w and
alent if, together with the conformal rescaling (19), times and                              qffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
lengths are rescaled as eU while the mass-energy is rescaled as                     Hinf ’    LÃ ;
                                                                                                 m                                                                      ð32Þ
eÀU. This analysis permits to enable the condition of Eq. (15) in
the present discussion too.                                                         where LÃ is the right hand side of Eq. (16) which is constant during
                                                                                             m
                                                                                    the inflationary phase. The idea of considering the Ricci scalar as an
3. Nonlinear electrodynamics lagrangian and Inflation                                effective scalar field (scalaron) arises from Starobinski [16].


   In order to show that our model admits a power law inflation-                     4. Conclusion remarks
ary phase, we need to postulate some matter Lagrangian Lm which
can perform the condition of inflation P À q [24]. We will use the                      Another approach regarding the inflation from the R2 theory of
non linear electrodynamics Lagrangian of [19], which is                             gravity, which was originally proposed by Starobinsk, has been
                                                                                    analysed. A non-singular early cosmology has been proposed,
      1
Lm  À F þ c1 F 2 þ c2 G2 ;                                             ð24Þ        where, adding a nonlinear electrodynamics Lagrangian to the
      4
                                                                                    high-order action, a bouncing is present and a power-law inflation
where F is the electromagnetic scalar, c1, c2 are two constants and,                is obtained. In the model which has been discussed, the Ricci scalar
considering the electromagnetic field tensor Fab (see [23] the defini-                R works like an inflaton field.
tion of this object), G is defined like [19] G  1 gablm F ab F lm .
                                                2
    The Lagrangian (24), differently from the one of the singular                   Acknowledgements
Einstein–Maxwell Universe, performs a non-singular Universe
with bouncing [19]. This is because the energy condition of singu-                     The authors thank Professor Mario Novello for useful discus-
larity theorems [28] is not satisfied in the case of the non linear                  sions on the topics of this paper. We also thank an unknown ref-
electrodynamics Lagrangian (see [19] for details).                                  eree for precious advices and suggestions which permitted to
    In fact, following [19], one uses the equation of state                         improve this paper.

      1
p¼      q À qà ;                                                        ð25Þ        References
      3
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