Related papers: Nflation: observable predictions from the random m…
The effect of including a Gauss-Bonnet contribution in the bulk action is investigated within the context of the steep inflationary scenario. When inflation is driven by an exponential inflaton field, this Gauss-Bonnet term allows the…
We explore the possibility of obtaining inflation in weakly coupled heterotic string theory, where the model dependent axions are responsible for driving inflation. This model can be considered as a certain extrapolation of…
We study thermally induced density perturbations during inflation. This scenario is characterized by two thermodynamical conditions: (1) The primordial perturbations originate in the epoch when the inflationary universe contains a…
Taking field theory seriously, inflation model-building is difficult but not impossible. The observed value of the spectral index of the adiabatic density perturbation is starting to discriminate between models, and may well pick out a…
A model is developed in which the inflaton potential experiences a sudden small change in its second derivative (the effective mass of the inflaton). An exact treatment demonstrates that the resulting density perturbation has a quasi-flat…
We review the relation between the inflationary potential and the spectra of density (scalar) perturbations and gravitational waves (tensor perturbations) produced, with particular emphasis on the possibility of reconstructing the inflaton…
It is conjectured that inflation, taking account of quantum gravity, leads to a discrete spectrum of cosmological perturbations, instead of the continuous Gaussian spectrum predicted by standard field theory in an unquantized background.…
We study the phenomenological constraints on a recently proposed model of open inflation in the context of induced gravity. The main interest of this model is the relatively small number of parameters, which may be constrained by many…
A scenario with two subsequent periods of inflationary expansion in the very early universe is examined. The model is based on a potential motivated by symmetries being found in field theory at high energy. For various parameter sets of the…
We consider the inflationary universe with a spectator scalar field coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field and calculate curvature perturbation and gravitational waves (GWs). We find that the sourced GWs can be larger than the one from vacuum…
An inflationary model in the framework of noncommutative space-time may generate a nontrivial running of the scalar spectral index, but usually induces a large tensor-to-scalar ratio simultaneously. With the latest observational data from…
We derive a generalized expressions for the scalar power spectrum and the observational parameters of inflation (the scalar spectral index $n_{\rm s}$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$) for several single field scalar models minimally…
We have investigated inflation models that predict a very small value of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$. The spectral index $n_s$, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, are strictly constrained by the Planck data. $n_s$ and $r$ are sensitive…
The scalar spectral index n is an important parameter describing the nature of primordial density perturbations. Recent data, including that from the WMAP satellite, shows some evidence that the index runs (changes as a function of the…
I construct a class of single small field models of inflation that can predict an observable gravitational wave signal in the cosmic microwave background anisotropoies, contrary to popular wisdom. The spectral index, its running, the tensor…
It is sometimes argued that observation of tensor modes from inflation would provide the first evidence for quantum gravity. However, in the usual inflationary formalism, also the scalar modes involve quantised metric perturbations. We…
We consider inflation in a universe with a positive cosmological constant and a nonminimally coupled scalar field, in which the field couples both quadratically and quartically to the Ricci scalar. When considered in the Einstein frame and…
The smallness of the neutrino masses may be related to inflation. The minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with small Dirac neutrino masses already has all the necessary ingredients for a successful inflation. In this model the…
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…
We develop a non-linear framework for describing long-wavelength perturbations in multiple-field inflation. The basic variables describing inhomogeneities are defined in a non-perturbative manner, are invariant under changes of time slicing…