Related papers: Axion Inflation and Gravity Waves in String Theory

We review the theory and phenomenology of effective supergravity theories based on orbifold compactifications of the weakly-coupled heterotic string. In particular, we consider theories in which the four-dimensional theory displays target…

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 present a new model of string inflation driven by a blow-up K\"ahler modulus of type IIb compactifications with a potential generated by string loops. Slow-roll is naturally realized thanks to the fact that the blow-up mode is a…

Thermal inflation was proposed as a mechanism to dilute the density of cosmological moduli. Thermal inflation is driven by a complex scalar field possessing a large vacuum expectation value and a very flat potential, called a `flaton'. Such…

We find successful models of D-brane/anti-brane inflation within a string context. We work within the GKP-KKLT class of type IIB string vacua for which many moduli are stabilized through fluxes, as recently modified to include `realistic'…

We show that under general conditions there is at least one natural inflationary direction for the Kahler moduli of type IIB flux compactifications. This requires a Calabi-Yau which has h^{2,1}>h^{1,1}>2 and for which the structure of the…

Models of inflation based on axions, which owe their popularity to the robustness against UV corrections, have also a very distinct class of signatures. The relevant interactions of the axion are a non-perturbative oscillating contribution…

We consider the effects of the quantum stress tensor fluctuations of a conformal field in generating gravity waves in inflationary models. We find a non-scale invariant, non-Gaussian contribution which depends upon the total expansion…

A double hybrid inflationary scenario in non-minimal supergravity which can predict values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio up to about 0.05 is presented. Larger values of this ratio would require unacceptably large running of the scalar…

We review the prospect of obtaining tree-level de Sitter (dS) vacua and slow-roll inflation models in string compactifications. Restricting ourselves to the closed string sector and assuming the absence of NSNS-sources, we classify the…

Large field inflation is arguably the simplest and most natural variant of slow-roll inflation. Axion monodromy may be the most promising framework for realising this scenario. As one of its defining features, the long-range polynomial…

We study the inflation scenarios, in the framework of superstring theory, where the inflaton is an axion producing the adiabatic curvature perturbations while there exists another light axion producing the isocurvature perturbations. We…

We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we…

We go a step further in the search for a consistent and realistic supergravity model of large-field inflation by building a class of models with the following features: during slow-roll, all the scalar fields other than the inflaton are…

We present novel realizations of E- and T-model inflation within Supergravity which are largely associated with the existence of a pole of order one and two respectively in the kinetic term of the inflaton superfield. This pole arises due…

Inflation near a maximum of the potential is studied when non-local derivative operators are included in the inflaton Lagrangian. Such terms can impose additional sources of friction on the field. For an arbitrary spacetime geometry, these…

We discuss a realization of a small field inflation based on string inspired supergravities. In theories accompanying extra dimensions, compactification of them with small radii is required for realistic situations. Since the extra…

We argue that super-Planckian diameters of axion fundamental domains can naturally arise in Calabi-Yau compactifications of string theory. In a theory with $N$ axions $\theta^i$, the fundamental domain is a polytope defined by the…

Inflation may have been driven by a component which violated the Null-Energy Condition, thereby leading to {\it super inflation}. We provide the formalism to study cosmological perturbations when such a component is described by a scalar…

A field kinetic coupling with the Einstein tensor leads to a gravitationally enhanced friction during inflation, by which even steep potentials with theoretically natural model parameters can drive cosmic acceleration. In the presence of…