Inflation on a Non-Commutative Space-Time

Abstract

We study inflation on a non-commutative space-time within the framework of enveloping algebra approach which allows for a consistent formulation of general relativity and of the standard model of particle physics. We show that within this framework, the effects of the non-commutativity of spacetime are very subtle. The dominant effect comes from contributions to the process of structure formation. We describe the bound relevant to this class of non-commutative theories and derive the tightest bound to date of the value of the non-commutative scale within this framework. Assuming that inflation took place, we get a model independent bound on the scale of space-time non-commutativity of the order of 19 TeV.