Comparison of predictions between standard and alternative inflationary scenarios using data from the Cosmic Microwave Background

Gabriel León (La Plata)

RESUMEN: The standard inflationary paradigm is considered the most successful model for the generation of primordial perturbations. These perturbations have a purely quantum origin, while the inhomogeneities and anisotropies observed today exhibit a classical behavior. That issue is related to the quantum "measurement problem" and the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are several well known proposals to address the measurement problem, some of them leading to departures from traditional quantum mechanics. In this presentation, we will briefly review two of them and its implementation into the inflationary Universe. These are: a model based on an objective reduction of the wave function and another one based on the de Broglie-Bohm approach. In particular, we will show that for the objective reduction inspired model, the predictions regarding the scalar power spectrum, the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are different from the standard ones. Based on these predictions, we will also present the results from the statistical analysis that allowed us to test the model's predictions with recent observational data from the CMB, which led to observational constraints on the free parameters of the model. Additionally, we will show that the results of the observational analysis imply that the inflationary potentials allowed by recent data are different from the traditional approach. Finally, we will also discuss how enforcing the objective collapse mechanism can be used to bypass the condition for eternal inflation.