Dynamics of inflation with mutually orthogonal vector fields in a closed universe

Abstract: We study the dynamics of a homogeneous, isotropic, and positively curved universe in the presence of a SU(2) gauge field or a triplet of mutually orthogonal vector fields. In the SU(2) case we use the previously known ansatz for the gauge-field configuration, but the case without non-abelian symmetries is more nontrivial and we develop a new ansatz. We in particular consider axion-SU(2) inflation and inflation with vector fields having U(1)$\times$U(1)$\times$U(1) symmetry, and analyze their dynamics in detail numerically. Novel effects of the spatial curvature come into play through vector fields, which causes unconventional pre-inflationary dynamics. It is found that the closed universe with vector fields is slightly more stable against collapse than that filled solely with an inflaton field.