One loop back reaction on power law inflation

We consider quantum-mechanical corrections to a homogeneous, isotropic, and spatially flat geometry whose scale factor expands classically as a general power of the comoving time. The effects of both gravitons and the scalar inflaton are computed at one loop using the manifestly causal formalism of Schwinger [J. Math. Phys. 2, 407 (1961); Particles, Sources and Fields (Addison, Wesley, Reading, MA, 1970)] with the Feynman rules recently developed by Iliopoulos ef al. [Nucl. Phys. B 534, 419 (1998)]. We find no significant effect, in marked contrast to the result obtained by Mukhanov and co-workers [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1624 (1998); Phys. Rev. D 56, 3248 (1997)] for chaotic inflation based on a quadratic potential. By applying the canonical technique of Mukhanov and co-workers to the exponential potentials of power law inflation, we show that the two methods produce the same results, within the approximations employed, for these backgrounds. We therefore conclude that the shape of the inflaton potential can have an enormous impact on the one loop back reaction. [S0556-2821(99)04914-0].