Related papers: Testing String Theory with CMB
Recent observations by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) indicate a potential detection of a stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background. Metastable cosmic strings have been recognized as a possible source of the observed signals. In this…
Data on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are discriminating between different models of inflation, disfavoring simple monomial potentials whilst being consistent with models whose predictions resemble those of the Starobinsky $R + R^2$…
We have investigated inflationary model constructed from minimally modified gravity (MMG) theories. The MMG theory in the form of $f({\bf H}) \propto {\bf H}^{1+p}$ gravity where, ${\bf H}$ is the Hamiltonian constraint in the Einstein…
We reconsider the predictions of inflation for the spectral index of scalar (energy density) fluctuations (n_s) and the tensor/scalar ratio (r) using a discrete, model-independent measure of the degree of fine-tuning required to obtain a…
The most important criteria for a successful inflation are to explain the observed temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background radiation, and exiting inflation in a vacuum where it can excite the Standard Model quarks and…
Sequestering is a promising mechanism in 4D string models to reconcile high-scale inflation with low-energy supersymmetry. In this scenario the MSSM lives on branes at singularities and it is sequestered from the sources of supersymmetry…
These lectures cover the theoretical structure and phenomenology of some basic mechanisms for inflation. A full treatment of the problem requires `ultraviolet completion' because of the sensitivity of inflation to quantum gravity effects,…
We consider $\mu$-term hybrid inflation which, in its minimal format with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking, leads to split supersymmetry. The MSSM $\mu$-term in this framework is larger than the gravitino mass $m_G$, and successful…
We develop a numerical statistical method to study linear cosmological fluctuations in inflationary scenarios with multiple fields, and apply it to an ensemble of six-field inflection point models in string theory. The latter are concrete…
We provide an anthropic reason that the supersymmetry breaking scale is much higher than the electroweak scale as indicated by the null result of collider experiments and observed 125 GeV Higgs boson. We focus on a new inflation model as a…
The leading candidate for the very early universe is described by a period of rapid expansion known as inflation. While the standard paradigm invokes a single slow-rolling field, many different models may be constructed which fit the…
We study the implications of the stringy space-time uncertainty relation (STUR) for inflationary cosmology. By demanding that no fluctuation modes that exit the Hubble radius are affected by the nonlocality resulting from the STUR, we find…
Fluctuations in the intensity and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe each contain clues about the nature of the earliest moments of time. The next generation of…
We study the CMB observables in axion monodromy inflation. These well-motivated scenarios for inflation in string theory have monomial potentials over super-Planckian field ranges, with superimposed sinusoidal modulations from instanton…
We discuss implications of the latest BICEP/Keck data release for inflationary models, with special emphasis on the cosmological attractors which can describe all presently available inflation-related observational data. These models are…
Inflation as the leading paradigm depicting the very early universe physics could leave imprints on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Using currently available CMB observations, we give the tightest constraints on inflation…
We consider the question of whether it is worth building an experiment with the sole purpose of bringing the detectable limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, down to 10^{-3}. We look at the inflationary models which give a prediction in…
The simple $m^2\phi^2$ potential as an inflationary model is coming under increasing tension with limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and measurements of the scalar spectral index $n_s$. Cubic Galileon interactions in the context of…
In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…
Using an analytical model for the string network we show that the kurtosis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature gradient maps is a good statistic to distinguish between the cosmic string model and inflationary models of…