The Inflationary Wavefunction and its Initial Conditions

Abstract

We explore the effect of initial conditions on the inflationary wavefunction and their consequences for the observed spectrum of primordial fluctuations. In a class of models with a sudden transition into inflation we find that, for a reasonable set of assumptions about the reheat temperature and the number of e-foldings, it is possible for initial conditions set by a pre-inflationary epoch to have an observable effect.