https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-8054-z
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
The scale factor potential approach to inflation
1
Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel
2
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), Ruth-Moufang-Strasse 1, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
3
Bahamas Advanced Study Institute and Conferences, 4A Ocean Heights, Hill View Circle, Stella Maris, Long Island, Bahamas
4
Department of Physics, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 157 73, Athens, Greece
5
National Observatory of Athens, Lofos Nymfon, 11852, Athens, Greece
6
Department of Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, People’s Republic of China
* e-mail: benidav@post.bgu.ac.il
Received:
9
December
2019
Accepted:
17
May
2020
Published online:
28
May
2020
We propose a new approach to investigate inflation in a model-independent way, and in particular to elaborate the involved observables, through the introduction of the “scale factor potential”. Through its use one can immediately determine the inflation end, which corresponds to its first (and global) minimum. Additionally, we express the inflationary observables in terms of its logarithm, using as independent variable the e-folding number. As an example, we construct a new class of scalar potentials that can lead to the desired spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio, namely 
and 
for 60 e-folds, in agreement with observations.
© The Author(s), 2020
