A Perturbative Analysis of Interacting Scalar Field Cosmologies

Abstract: Scalar field cosmologies with a generalized harmonic potential are investigated in flat and negatively curved Friedmann-Lema^itre-Robertson-Walker and Bianchi I metrics. An interaction between the scalar field and matter is considered. Asymptotic methods and averaging theory are used to obtain relevant information about the solution space. In this approach, the Hubble parameter plays the role of a time-dependent perturbation parameter which controls the magnitude of the error between full-system and time-averaged solutions as it decreases. Our approach is used to show that full and time-averaged systems have the same asymptotic behavior. Numerical simulations are presented as evidence of such behavior. Moreover, the asymptotic behavior of the solutions is independent of the coupling function.