Related papers: Inflation after WMAP3
We confront predictions of inflationary scenarios with the WMAP data, in combination with complementary small-scale CMB measurements and large-scale structure data. The WMAP detection of a large-angle anti-correlation in the…
The three-year observations from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe have been hailed as giving the first clear indication of a spectral index n_s<1. We point out that the data are equally well explained by retaining the assumption…
We show that the prediction for the primordial tensor power spectrum cannot be modified at leading order in derivatives. Indeed, one can always set to unity the speed of propagation of gravitational waves during inflation by a suitable…
Future observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization are expected to set an improved upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of $r\lesssim 0.03$. Recently, we showed that small field models of inflation can produce a…
We present the first attempt to use a combination of CMB, LIGO, and PPTA data to constrain both the tilt and the running of primordial tensor power spectrum through constraints on the gravitational wave energy density generated in the early…
Inflation is a highly favoured theory for the early Universe. It is compatible with current observations of the cosmic microwave background and large scale structure and is a driver in the quest to detect primordial gravitational waves. It…
A period of inflation in the early universe produces a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of gravitational waves over a huge range in wavelength. If the amplitude of this gravitational wave background is large enough to be detectable with…
One of the major predictions of inflation is the existence of a stochastic background of cosmological gravitational waves (GW). These gravitational waves can induce significant temperature anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background…
We point out that if quantum field renormalization is taken into account, and the counterterms are evaluated at the Hubble-radius crossing time or few e-foldings after it, the predictions of slow-roll inflation for both the scalar and…
We point out three correlated predictions of the axion monodromy inflation model: large amplitude of gravitational waves, suppression of power on horizon scales and on scales relevant for the formation of dwarf galaxies. While these…
Inflation predicts a stochastic background of gravitational waves over a broad range of frequencies, from those accessible with cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements, to those accessible directly with gravitational-wave detectors,…
We present the constraints on inflationary parameters in a flat $\Lambda$CDM universe obtained by WMAP three year data release, plus smaller scale CMB and two LSS data sets, 2dF and SDSS (treated separately). We use a Markov Chain Monte…
Inflationary cosmology is successful in explaining a number of outstanding cosmological issues including the flatness, the horizon and the relic issues. More spectacular is the experimental confirmation of the structure as arose from the…
The inflationary and pre-inflationary evolution of scalar modes of cosmological perturbations in a closed universe is analyzed for a loop quantum cosmology model with an inflationary regime consistent with the constraints on inflation…
We study the implications of the recently proposed Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) for early universe cosmology and in particular inflationary cosmology. The TCC leads to the conclusion that if we want inflationary cosmology to…
We investigate the ability of current CMB data to reliably constrain the form of the primordial power spectrum generated during inflation. We attempt to identify more exotic power spectra that yield equally good fits to the data as simple…
The theory of inflation provides an elegant explanation for the nearly flat universe observed today, which represents one of the pillars of the standard cosmological model. However, recent studies have reported some deviations from a flat…
We consider the stochastic gravitational wave background induced by arbitrary source fields that are amplified during cosmological inflation. The associated tensor spectral index is shown to be given, under minimal assumptions, by a simple…
The ability to test and constrain theories of cosmic inflation will advance substantially over the next decade. Key data sources include cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements and observations of the distribution of matter at…
We briefly summarize the impact of the recent Planck measurements for string inflationary models, and outline what might be expected to be learned in the near future from the expected improvement in sensitivity to the primordial…