A natural model for curved inflation

Abstract Inflationary models with a non-zero background curvature require additional hypothesis or parameters compared to flat inflation and the procedure to construct them cannot be as simple as in the flat case. For this reason, there is no consensus on the primordial power spectrum that should be considered at large scales in a curved Universe. In this letter, we propose a model of curved inflation in which the usual canonical quantization and Bunch–Davies vacuum choice of the flat case can be considered. The framework is a recently proposed modification of general relativity (GR) in which a non-dynamical topological term is added to the Einstein equation. The model is universal as it is the same for any background curvature, and no additional parameters or hypothesis on the initial spatial curvature are introduced. This gives a natural and simple solution to the problem of constructing curved inflation, and at the same time provides an additional argument for this topological modification of general relativity.