  Positively-curved, oscillatory universes are studied within the context of
Loop Quantum Cosmology subject to a consistent semi-classical treatment. The
semi-classical effects are reformulated in terms of an effective phantom fluid
with a variable equation of state. In cosmologies sourced by a massless scalar
field, these effects lead to a universe that undergoes ever-repeating cycles of
expansion and contraction. The presence of a self-interaction potential for the
field breaks the symmetry of the cycles and can enable the oscillations to
establish the initial conditions for successful slow-roll inflation, even when
the field is initially at the minimum of its potential with a small kinetic
energy. The displacement of the field from its minimum is enhanced for lower
and more natural values of the parameter that sets the effective quantum
gravity scale. For sufficiently small values of this parameter, the universe
can enter a stage of eternal self-reproduction.

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;Astrophysics;High Energy Physics - Theory