In a series of recent papers Kallosh, Linde, and collaborators provide a unified description of single-field inflation with several types of potentials ranging from power law to supergravity, in terms of just one parameter $\alpha$. These so-called $\alpha$ attractors predict a spectral index $n_s$ and a tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, which are fully compatible with the latest Planck data. The only common feature of all $\alpha$ attractors is a noncanonical kinetic term with a pole, and a potential analytic around the pole. In this paper, starting from the same Einstein frame with a noncanonical scalar kinetic energy, we explore the case of nonanalytic potentials. We find the functional form that corresponds to quasiscale-invariant gravitational models in the Jordan frame characterized by a universal relation between $r$ and $n_s$ that fits the observational data but is clearly distinct from the one of the $\alpha$ attractors. It is known that the breaking of the exact classical scale invariance in the Jordan frame can be attributed to one-loop corrections. Therefore we conclude that there exists a class of nonanalytic potentials in the noncanonical Einstein frame that is physically equivalent to a class of models in the Jordan frame, with scale invariance softly broken by one-loop quantum corrections.

We study the relation between the Jordan-Einstein frame transition and the possible description of the crossing of singularities in flat Friedmann universes, using the fact that the regular evolution in one frame can correspond to crossing singularities in the other frame. We show that some interesting effects arise in simple models such as one with a massless scalar field or another wherein the potential is constant in the Einstein frame. The dynamics in these models and in their conformally coupled counterparts are described in detail, and a method for the continuation of such cosmological evolutions beyond the singularity is developed. We compare our approach with some other, recently developed, approaches to the problem of the crossing of singularities.

We illustrate and examine diverse approaches to the quantum matter–gravity system which refer to the Born–Oppenheimer (BO) method. In particular we first examine a quantum geometrodynamical approach introduced by other authors in a manner analogous to that previously employed by us, so as to include back reaction and non-adiabatic contributions. On including such effects it is seen that the unitarity violating effects previously found disappear. A quantum loop space formulation (based on a hybrid quantisation, polymer for gravitation and canonical for matter) also refers to the BO method. It does not involve the classical limit for gravitation and has a highly peaked initial scalar field state. We point out that it does not resemble in any way our traditional BO approach. Instead it does resemble an alternative, canonically quantised, non BO approach which we have also previously discussed.

We consider the relation between exact solutions of cosmological models having minimally and non-minimally coupled scalar fields. This is done for a particular class of solvable models which, in the Einstein frame, have potentials depending on hyperbolic functions and in the Jordan frame, where the non-minimal coupling is conformal, possess a relatively simple dynamics. We show that a particular model in this class can be generalized to the cases of closed and open Friedmann universes and still exhibits a simple dynamics. Further we illustrate the conditions for the existences of bounces in some sub-classes of the set of integrable models we have considered.

We study the cosmological evolution and singularity crossing in the Bianchi-I universe filled with a conformally coupled scalar field and compare them with those of the Bianchi-I universe filled with a minimally coupled scalar field. We also write down the solution for the Bianchi-I Universe in the induced gravity cosmology.