Exact inflation in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity

Abstract

We study cosmological inflation in the Einstein gravity model with the additionally included Gauss–Bonnet term nonminimally coupled to a scalar field. We prove that inflationary solutions of exponential and power-law types are allowable, and we found few examples of them. We also propose a method for construction of exact inflationary solutions for a single scalar field with a given scale factor and Gauss–Bonnet coupling term in a spatially flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker Universe on the basis of connection with standard inflation and using special assumptions. With one special anzatz we presented the set of equations in a form that allows for generation of exact solutions (at least in quadratures) of a wide class by setting the scale factor.