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We study a model of a scalar field minimally coupled to gravity, with a specific potential energy for the scalar field, and include curvature and radiation as two additional parameters. Our goal is to obtain analytically the complete set of configurations of a homogeneous and isotropic universe as a function of time. This leads to a geodesically complete description of the universe, including the passage through the cosmological singularities, at the classical level. We give all the solutions analytically without any restrictions on the parameter space of the model or initial values of the fields. We find that for generic solutions the universe goes through a singular (zero-size) bounce by entering a period of antigravity at each big crunch and exiting from it at the following big bang. This happens cyclically again and again without violating the null energy condition. There is a special subset of geodesically complete non-generic solutions which perform zero-size bounces without ever entering the antigravity regime in all cycles. For these, initial values of the fields are synchronized and quantized but the parameters of the model are not restricted. There is also a subset of spatial curvature-induced solutions that have finite-size bounces in the gravity regime and never enter the antigravity phase. These exist only within a small continuous domain of parameter space without fine tuning initial conditions. To obtain these results, we identified 25 regions of a 6-parameter space in which the complete set of analytic solutions are explicitly obtained., Comment: 38 pages, 29 figures

We point out a new phenomenon which seems to be generic in 4d effective theories of scalar fields coupled to Einstein gravity, when applied to cosmology. A lift of such theories to a Weyl-invariant extension allows one to define classical evolution through cosmological singularities unambiguously, and hence construct geodesically complete background spacetimes. An attractor mechanism ensures that, at the level of the effective theory, generic solutions undergo a big crunch/big bang transition by contracting to zero size, passing through a brief antigravity phase, shrinking to zero size again, and re-emerging into an expanding normal gravity phase. The result may be useful for the construction of complete bouncing cosmologies like the cyclic model., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

We present analytic solutions to a class of cosmological models described by a canonical scalar field minimally coupled to gravity and experiencing self interactions through a hyperbolic potential. Using models and methods inspired by 2T-physics, we show how analytic solutions can be obtained in flat/open/closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes. Among the analytic solutions, there are many interesting geodesically complete cyclic solutions in which the universe bounces at either zero or finite sizes. When geodesic completeness is imposed, it restricts models and their parameters to a certain parameter subspace, including some quantization conditions on initial conditions in the case of zero-size bounces, but no conditions on initial conditions for the case of finite-size bounces. We will explain the theoretical origin of our model from the point of view of 2T-gravity as well as from the point of view of the colliding branes scenario in the context of M-theory. We will indicate how to associate solutions of the quantum Wheeler-deWitt equation with our classical analytic solutions, mention some physical aspects of the cyclic solutions, and outline future directions., Comment: 42 pages, 27 figures

We show that the f(T) gravitational paradigm, in which gravity is described by an arbitrary function of the torsion scalar, can provide a mechanism for realizing bouncing cosmologies, thereby avoiding the Big Bang singularity. After constructing the simplest version of an f(T) matter bounce, we investigate the scalar and tensor modes of cosmological perturbations. Our results show that metric perturbations in the scalar sector lead to a background-dependent sound speed, which is a distinguishable feature from Einstein gravity. Additionally, we obtain a scale-invariant primordial power spectrum, which is consistent with cosmological observations, but suffers from the problem of a large tensor-to-scalar ratio. However, this can be avoided by introducing extra fields, such as a matter bounce curvaton., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

A new approach is given for the implementation of boundary conditions used in solving the Mukhanov-Sasaki equation in the context of inflation. The familiar quantization procedure is reviewed, along with a discussion of where one might expect deviations from the standard approach to arise. The proposed method introduces a (model dependent) fitting function for the z"/z and a"/a terms in the Mukhanov-Sasaki equation for scalar and tensor modes, as well as imposes the boundary conditions at a finite conformal time. As an example, we employ a fitting function, and compute the spectral index, along with its running, for a specific inflationary model which possesses background equations that are analytically solvable. The observational upper bound on the tensor to scalar ratio is used to constrain the parameters of the boundary conditions in the tensor sector as well. An overview on the generalization of this method is also discussed., Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures

We investigate the cosmological perturbations in f(T) gravity. Examining the pure gravitational perturbations in the scalar sector using a diagonal vierbien, we extract the corresponding dispersion relation, which provides a constraint on the f(T) ansatzes that lead to a theory free of instabilities. Additionally, upon inclusion of the matter perturbations, we derive the fully perturbed equations of motion, and we study the growth of matter overdensities. We show that f(T) gravity with f(T) constant coincides with General Relativity, both at the background as well as at the first-order perturbation level. Applying our formalism to the power-law model we find that on large subhorizon scales (O(100 Mpc) or larger), the evolution of matter overdensity will differ from LCDM cosmology. Finally, examining the linear perturbations of the vector and tensor sectors, we find that (for the standard choice of vierbein) f(T) gravity is free of massive gravitons., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Analysis of the vector and tensor sectors added

Exact analytic solutions for a class of scalar-tensor gravity theories with a hyperbolic scalar potential are presented. Using an exact solution we have successfully constructed a model of inflation that produces the spectral index, the running of the spectral index and the amplitude of scalar perturbations within the constraints given by the WMAP 7 years data. The model simultaneously describes the Big Bang and inflation connected by a specific time delay between them so that these two events are regarded as dependent on each other. In solving the Fridemann equations, we have utilized an essential Weyl symmetry of our theory in 3+1 dimensions which is a predicted remaining symmetry of 2T-physics field theory in 4+2 dimensions. This led to a new method of obtaining analytic solutions in 1T field theory which could in principle be used to solve more complicated theories with more scalar fields. Some additional distinguishing properties of the solution includes the fact that there are early periods of time when the slow roll approximation is not valid. Furthermore, the inflaton does not decrease monotonically with time, rather it oscillates around the potential minimum while settling down, unlike the slow roll approximation. While the model we used for illustration purposes is realistic in most respects, it lacks a mechanism for stopping inflation. The technique of obtaining analytic solutions opens a new window for studying inflation, and other applications, more precisely than using approximations., Comment: V2 improve computation with better agreement with WMAP 7 years data, and also point out an exact solution for cyclic cosmology

2T-gravity in d+2 dimensions predicts 1T General Relativity (GR) in d dimensions, augmented with a local scale symmetry known as the Weyl symmetry in 1T field theory. The emerging GR comes with a number of constraints, particularly on scalar fields and their interactions in 1T field theory. These constraints, detailed in this paper, are footprints of 2T-gravity and could be a basis for testing 2T-physics. Some of the conceptually interesting consequences of the "accidental" Weyl symmetry include that the gravitational constant emerges from vacuum values of the dilaton and other Higgs-type scalars and that it changes after every cosmic phase transition (inflation, grand unification, electroweak phase transition, etc.). We show that this consequential Weyl symmetry in d dimensions originates from coordinate reparametrization, not from scale transformations, in the d+2 spacetime of 2T-gravity. To recognize this structure we develop in detail the geometrical structures, curvatures, symmetries, etc. of the d+2 spacetime which is restricted by a homothety condition derived from the action of 2T-gravity. Observers that live in d dimensions perceive GR and all degrees of freedom as shadows of their counterparts in d+2 dimensions. Kaluza-Klein (KK) type modes are removed by gauge symmetries and constraints that follow from the 2T-gravity action. However some analogs to KK modes, which we call "prolongations" of the shadows into the higher dimensions, remain but they are completely determined, up to gauge freedom, by the shadows in d dimensions., Comment: Version 2 includes a new section IV-A where more details are given on the higher gauge symmetry in 2T theory field and the process of gauge fixing to the "conformal shadow"

According to Two-Time Physics, there is more to space-time than can be garnered with the ordinary formulation of physics. Two-Time Physics has shown that the Standard Model of Particles and Forces is successfully reproduced by a two-time field theory in 4 space and 2 time dimensions projected as a holographic image on an emergent spacetime in 3+1 dimensions. Among the successes of this approach is the resolution of the strong CP problem of QCD as an outcome of the restrictions imposed by the higher symmetry structures in 4+2 dimensions. In this paper we launch a program to construct the duals of the Standard Model as other holographic images of the same 4+2 dimensional theory on a variety of emergent spacetimes in 3+1 dimensions. These dual field theories are obtained as a family of gauge choices in the master 4+2 field theory. In the present paper we deal with some of the simpler gauge choices which lead to interacting Klein-Gordon field theories for the conformal scalar with a predicted SO(d,2) symmetry in a variety of interesting curved spacetimes in (d-1)+1 dimensions. More challenging and more interesting gauge choices (including some that relate to mass) which are left to future work are also outlined. Through this approach we discover a new realm of previously unexplored dualities and hidden symmetries that exist both in the macroscopic and microscopic worlds, at the classical and quantum levels. Such phenomena predicted by 2T-physics can in principle be confirmed both by theory and experiment. 1T-physics can be used to analyze the predictions but in most instances gives no clue that the predicted phenomena exist in the first place. This point of view suggests a new paradigm for the construction of a fundamental theory that is likely to impact on the quest for unification., Comment: LaTeX, 35 pages