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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Gerasimos RigopoulosORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
We show that it is possible to simulate realistic inhomogeneities during cosmological inflation with high precision using numerical relativity. Stochastic initial conditions are set in line with the Bunch-Davies vacuum and satisfy the Hamiltonian and Momentum constraints of general relativity to leading order in perturbation theory. The subsequent fully nonlinear dynamical evolution is formulated within a family of geodesic gauges but can, in principle, be adapted to any choice of coordinates. We present three examples of inflationary dynamics: a simple quadratic potential, a potential with an inflection point, and a strong resonance model. When perturbations are small, we recover standard predictions of cosmological perturbation theory, and we quantify strongly nonlinear inhomogeneities when nonperturbative configurations emerge, such as in the strong resonance model. Our results pave the way toward the first realistic nonperturbative and fully nonlinear numerical relativity simulations of the early inflationary universe.
Author(s): Launay YL, Rigopoulos GI, Shellard EPS
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Physical Review D
Year: 2025
Volume: 112
Issue: 4
Online publication date: 15/08/2025
Acceptance date: 23/07/2025
Date deposited: 29/08/2025
ISSN (print): 2470-0010
ISSN (electronic): 2470-0029
Publisher: American Physical Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1103/qg66-gxh2
DOI: 10.1103/qg66-gxh2
Data Access Statement: The data that support the findings of this article are not publicly available. The data are available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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