Conference

Resolving the big bang singularity with a non-singular classical bounce usually requires the introduction of some sort exotic matter which violates the null-energy condition (NEC), such as a scalar field that undergoes ghost condensation, or models involving Galileon fields. In such models an NEC violating phase is not difficult to achieve on its own, but the situation becomes much more restrictive once observational and stability requirements are taken into consideration. In this talk I discuss whether a more desirable outcome might be achieved by making use of fermionic rather than scalar matter. In particular, I describe bouncing scenarios which arise naturally within the context of Einstein-Cartan-Holst gravity coupled to classical Dirac spinors. As I will show, it is relatively easy to construct backgrounds which not only undergo a bounce, but which also accommodate other interesting dynamics outside the bouncing phase, such as inflation or ekpyrosis. Unfortunately, things work less well when considering perturbations in such bouncing backgrounds as I explain within the context of the simplest models: the comoving curvature perturbation diverges as the moment of NEC violation is approached, and hence the models of greatest interest break down before reaching the bounce.

I will highlight cosmological consequences of Group Field theory Condensate Cosmology and Emergent Gravity on Non-commutative Spaces, two cosmological models based on a top-down and a bottom-up, respectively, approaches to quantum gravity. In particular, I will show that the initial singularity of the standard cosmology is replaced by a bounce, while there is an inflation-like phase with a graceful exit, driven by a purely geometrical mechanism which does not require the introduction of an ad-hoc scalar field.

In his talk I will review some recent results concerning the cosmological bounce in loop quantum gravity. In particular I will show how the predicted duration of inflation in affected by the choices of initial conditions, amount of shear and inflaton potential shape. Then I will show how those ideas can be used in black holes physics and comment on the associated phenomenology?

Loop quantum cosmology has become a robust framework to describe the highest curvature regime of the early universe. In this theory, inflation is preceded by a bounce replacing the big bang singularity. I will summarize the theoretical framework, and explore the corrections to the inflationary predictions for the primordial spectrum of cosmological perturbations that this pre-inflationary, quantum gravity phase of the universe introduces. The impact of the bounce on non-Gaussianity and the exciting relation to the observed large scale anomalies in the CMB will be discussed.

Loop quantum gravity has suggested modifications of the dynamics of cosmological models that could lead to a bounce at large curvature. However, the same modifications may alter the gauge structure of the theory, which is related to the structure of space-time. In a large class of examples the space-time structure has been derived and shown to imply signature change just in the bounce region. The picture of a cyclic universe with a deterministic bounce then has to be replaced by the scenario of a non-singular beginning some finite time ago.