The pre-inflationary dynamics of loop quantum cosmology: Confronting
  quantum gravity with observations
  Using techniques from loop quantum gravity, the standard theory of
cosmological perturbations was recently generalized to encompass the Planck
era. We now apply this framework to explore pre-inflationary dynamics. The
framework enables us to isolate and resolve the true trans-Planckian
difficulties, with interesting lessons both for theory and observations.
Specifically, for a large class of initial conditions at the bounce, we are led
to a self consistent extension of the inflationary paradigm over the 11 orders
of magnitude in density and curvature, from the big bounce to the onset of slow
roll. In addition, for a narrow window of initial conditions, there are
departures from the standard paradigm, with novel effects ---such as a
modification of the consistency relation between the ratio of the tensor to
scalar power spectrum and the tensor spectral index, as well as a new source
for non-Gaussianities--- which could extend the reach of cosmological
observations to the deep Planck regime of the early universe.
