Abstract. In loop quantum cosmology, the universe avoids a big bang singularity and undergoes an early and short super-inflation phase. During super-inflation, non-perturbative quantum corrections to the dynamics drive an inflaton field up its potential hill, thus setting the initial conditions for standard inflation. We show that this effect can raise the inflaton high enough to achieve sufficient e-foldings in the standard inflation era. We analyse the cosmological perturbations generated when slow-roll is violated after super-inflation and show that loop quantum effects can in principle leave an indirect signature on the largest scales in the CMB, with some loss of power and running of the spectral index.

PACS numbers: 04.60.Pp, 04.60.Kz, 98.80.Es

Print publication: Issue 24 (21 December 2004)
Received 10 September 2004
Published 22 November 2004