Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 310 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the reduced Planck mass, in units . Combining that equation with the Friedmann acceleration equation givesDifferentiate to obtain . For the homogeneous canonical scalar field, , soWhere , division gives the inflaton equation of motion; continuity extends it to isolated turning points:The Hubble friction term describes loss of kinetic energy into expansion.
There is a small logical caveat if the field is frozen on an entire interval: the homogeneous Einstein constraints alone only give the product equation and do not force . The frozen scalar fields and the Friedmann constraint counterexample makes this explicit. For a canonical scalar, the field equation also follows directly from its inflaton action in an expanding universe, whose homogeneous Lagrangian is . The Euler-Lagrange equation gives , including the frozen case, and yields the same boxed equation without division by .