Non-singular Power-law and Assisted inflation in Loop Quantum Cosmology
  We investigate the dynamics of single and multiple scalar fields with
exponential potentials, leading to power-law and assisted inflation, in loop
quantum cosmology. Unlike in the classical theory, dynamical trajectories in
loop quantum cosmology are generically non-singular, with a big bounce
replacing classical big bang in the Planck regime. Post bounce, after a phase
of super-inflation, dynamical trajectories evolve towards the classical
attractor in the inflationary scenarios. Depending on the initial conditions,
bounce is shown to occur in kinetic as well as potential dominated regimes. We
analyze the number of e-foldings resulting from the phase of super-inflation,
and find the dependence of the maximum possible number of e-foldings on the
equation of state at the bounce and on the steepness of the potential. We find
that if the potential is not steep, this phase can lead to large number of
e-foldings in power-law inflation. For the assisted inflation scenario, an
increase in the number of fields can yield a significant increase in the number
of e-foldings during super-inflation.
