Intermediate inflation in light of the three-year WMAP observations

Barrow, John D; Liddle, Andrew R; Pahud, Cédric

Intermediate inflation in light of the three-year WMAP observations

Authors

Barrow, John D

Liddle, Andrew R

Pahud, Cédric

Description

The three-year observations from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe have been hailed as giving the first clear indication of a spectral index n_s<1. We point out that the data are equally well explained by retaining the assumption n_s=1 and allowing the tensor-to-scalar ratio r to be non-zero. The combination n_s=1 and r>0 is given (within the slow-roll approximation) by a version of the intermediate inflation model with expansion rate H(t) \propto t^{-1/3}. We assess the status of this model in light of the WMAP3 data.
4 pages RevTeX4 with one figure. Minor changes to match PRD accepted version