On the large-scale structure of the inflationary universe

Abstract

We study the evolution of quantum fluctuations of a scalar field which is coupled to the geometry, in an exponentially expanding universe. We derive an expression for the spectrum of intrinsic perturbations, and it is shown that the intrinsic degrees of freedom are well behaved in the infra-red part of the spectrum. We conclude that quantum fluctuations do not change the dynamics of the spacetime in a way which makes its evolution non-perturbative and stochastic. This result contradicts previous derivations which are based on the study of a quantum field on a fixed geometry.