Alfredo Urbano
In this work, we highlight the existence of a lower limit on the tidal deformability parameter $\Lambda$, determined by the requirement of relativistic causality. Additionally, by considering the upper bound set on compactness, we identify…
We apply the criterion of finite naturalness to the limiting case of a generic heavy sector decoupled from the Standard Model. The sole and unavoidable exception to this decoupling arises from gravitational interactions. We demonstrate that…
In this work, we investigate the generation of primordial black holes (PBHs) within the framework of single-field inflationary models and their compatibility with the cosmological history of the Universe. Our results suggest that, depending…
In this work, we critically reanalyze the explicit breaking of the Peccei-Quinn global symmetry -- and the corresponding corrections to the QCD axion potential -- induced by gravity. Specifically, we examine the role of gravitational…
We discuss the issue of perturbativity in single-field inflationary models with a phase of ultra slow-roll (USR) tailor suited to generate an order-one abundance of primordial black holes (PBHs). More in detail, we impose the condition that…
We consider a theory in which a real scalar field is Yukawa-coupled to a fermion and has a potential with two non-degenerate vacua. If the coupling is sufficiently strong, a collection of N fermions deforms the true vacuum state, creating…
We construct a single-field model of inflation that achieves remarkable agreement with Planck and BICEP/Keck cosmological observations. The model, via the presence of an ultra-slow-roll phase, generates a sizable scalar-induced…
We revise primordial black holes (PBHs) production in the axion-curvaton model, in light of recent developments in the computation of their abundance accounting for non-gaussianities (NGs) in the curvature perturbation up to all orders. We…
Constraining the inflationary epoch is one of the aims of modern cosmology. In order to fully exploit current and future small-scale observations, it is necessary to devise tools to directly relate them to the early universes dynamics. We…
We develop an exact formalism for the computation of the abundance of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the presence of local non-gaussianity (NG) in the curvature perturbation field. For the first time, we include NG going beyond the widely…
The cancellation of infrared (IR) divergences is an old topic in quantum field theory whose main results are condensed into the celebrated Kinoshita-Lee-Nauenberg (KLN) theorem. In this paper, we consider mass-suppressed corrections to the…
We compute the probability density distribution of maxima for a scalar random field in the presence of local non-gaussianities. The physics outcome of this analysis is the following. If we focus on maxima whose curvature is larger than a…
We analyze primordial non-gaussianities in presence of an ultra-slow phase during the inflationary dynamics, focusing on scenarios relevant for the production of primordial black holes. We compute the three-point correlation function of…
We introduce a novel class of signatures---spectral edges and endpoints---in 21-cm measurements resulting from interactions between the standard and dark sectors. Within the context of a kinetically mixed dark photon, we demonstrate how…
We consider the impact of quantum diffusion on inflationary dynamics during an ultra-slow-roll phase, which can be of particular significance for the formation of primordial black holes. We show, by means of a fully analytical approach,…
We consider the possibility that the majority of dark matter in our Universe consists of black holes of primordial origin. We determine the conditions under which such black holes may have originated from a single-field model of inflation…
We discuss the possibility of exploring an unbroken U(1) gauge interaction in the dark sector by means of gravitational waves. Dark sector states charged under the dark force can give a macroscopic charge to astronomical bodies. Yet the…
In the context of gauge theories, observable quantities, if properly defined and computed, do not depend on the gauge-fixing procedure. In this paper, we develop a formalism that implements this (apparent) tautology in the case of…
This letter constructs, making use of the on-shell spinor-helicity formalism, a possible ultraviolet completion of gravity following a "bottom-up" approach. The assumptions of locality, unitarity and causality i) require an infinite tower…
Core-collapse supernovae presumably explode because trapped neutrinos push the material out of the stellar envelope. This process is directly controlled by the weak scale $v$: we argue that supernova explosions happen only if fundamental…