In loop quantum cosmology, the universe avoids a big bang singularity and
undergoes an early and short super-inflation phase. During super-inflation,
non-perturbative quantum corrections to the dynamics drive an inflaton field up
its potential hill, thus setting the initial conditions for standard inflation.
We show that this effect can raise the inflaton high enough to achieve
sufficient e-foldings in the standard inflation era. We analyze the
cosmological perturbations generated when slow-roll is violated after
super-inflation, and show that loop quantum effects can in principle leave an
indirect signature on the largest scales in the CMB, with some loss of power
and running of the spectral index.Comment: revtex4, 5 pages, 3 figures, significant improvements in explanation
of quantization and perturbation issues; version to appear Classical and
Quantum Gravit
