Density fluctuations in extended inflation

We estimate the density perturbation spectrum $\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho }$ in the extended inflationary model, in which the scalar curvature is coupled to a Brans-Dicke field. Through a conformal transformation and a redefinition of the Brans-Dicke field, the action of the theory is cast into a form with no coupling to the scalar curvature and a canonical kinetic term for the redefined field. Following Kolb, Salopek, and Turner, we calculate $\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho }$ using the transformed action and the standard recipe developed for conventional inflation. This recipe is expected to give a valid order-of-magnitude estimate, but a precise calculation would require a more careful treatment of several aspects of the problem. The spectrum behaves as a positive power of the wavelength, a feature that might be useful in building models to account for the observed large-scale structure of the universe. Our result for the overall amplitude of density perturbations differs slightly from that of the previous authors, and the reasons for these differences are discussed. We also point out that the conformal transformation method can be applied to a wider class of generalized gravity theories.