Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/iii/paper-62/3/c/solution

Denote the comoving box volume by , keeping it distinct from the inflaton potential . For the Canonically rescaled de Sitter scalar mode , the equation in part (b) becomes
Direct differentiation verifies the positive-frequency solution
For , tends to , the positive-frequency flat-space mode. It therefore selects the incoming Bunch-Davies vacuum. The Bunch-Davies mode normalization in a finite comoving volume is fixed by the Wronskian condition
After cosmological horizon exit, , the mode tends to the time-independent value . The complex mode and its Hermitian conjugate together make the real quantum field.

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