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In recent papers it has been shown that a large class of vectorization mechanisms in gravity, which involve the vector fields becoming apparently tachyonic in some regime, are actually dominated by ghosts and non-perturbative behavior.…
We investigate tensor modes in inflationary scenarios from the point of view of Ashtekar variables and their generalizations labelled by Immirzi parameter \gamma, which we'll assume imaginary. By defining the classical perturbed…
An oscillating, compact Friedmann universe with a massive conformally coupled scalar field is studied in the framework of quantum cosmology. The scalar field is treated as a perturbation and we look for solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt…
We analyze a massive vector field with a non-canonical kinetic term in the action, minimally coupled to gravity, where the mass and kinetic function of the vector field vary as functions of time during inflation. The vector field is…
We study anisotropic cosmologies of a scalar field interacting with an SU(2) gauge field via a gauge-kinetic coupling. We analyze Bianchi class A models, which include Bianchi type I, II, VI0, VII0, VIII and IX. The linear stability of…
We consider several new classes of viable vector field alternatives to the inflaton and quintessence scalar fields. Spatial vector fields are shown to be compatible with the cosmological anisotropy bounds if only slightly displaced from the…
An alternative inflationary model is proposed predicated upon a consideration of the form of the uncertainty principle in a curved background spacetime. An argument is presented suggesting a possible curvature dependence in the correct…
We investigate two cosmological axion problems (isocurvature fluctuations and domain-wall formation) in chaotic inflationary universe. It is believed that these problems are solved if potential for the Peccei-Quinn scalar field is very…
In this paper, inflationary cosmology is reviewed, paying particular attention to its observational signatures associated with large-scale density perturbations generated from quantum fluctuations. In the most general scalar-tensor theories…
Massive vector fields feature in several areas of particle physics, e.g., as carriers of weak interactions, dark matter candidates, or as an effective description of photons in a plasma. Here we investigate vector fields with…
A number of scalar field models proposed as alternatives to the standard inflationary scenario involve contracting phases which precede the universe's present phase of expansion. An important question concerning such models is whether there…
We study solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation corresponding to an S-modular invariant N=1 supergravity model and a closed homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime. The issues of inflation and of the cosmological…
We investigate the breaking of global statistical isotropy caused by a dark energy component with an energy-momentum tensor which has point symmetry, that could represent a cubic or hexagonal crystalline lattice. In such models Gaussian,…
In type IIB Fibre Inflation models the inflaton is a Kaehler modulus which is kinetically coupled to the corresponding axion. In this setup the curvature of the field space induces tachyonic isocurvature perturbations normal to the…
We perform an analytical study of the stability of the background solution of the model in which an inflaton, through an axionic coupling to a $U(1)$ gauge field, causes an amplification of the gauge field modes that strongly backreact on…
The study of linear perturbation theory for general functions of the Ricci and Gauss-Bonnet scalars is done over an empty anisotropic universe, i.e. the Kasner-type background, in order to show that an anisotropic background in general has…
I investigate the possibility that the observed curvature perturbation is due to a massive vector field. To avoid generating a large scale anisotropy the vector field is not taken to be driving inflation. Instead it is assumed to become…
We study a model of inflation where the scalar perturbations are almost gaussian while there is sizable (equilateral) nongaussianity in the tensor sector. In this model, a rolling pseudoscalar gravitationally coupled to the inflaton…
In this paper we will discuss analytically the perturbations created from a slowly rolling subdominant spectator field which decays much before the end of inflation. The quantum fluctuations of such a spectator field can seed perturbations…
One of the greatest problems of standard cosmology is the Big Bang singularity. Previously it has been shown that non-local ghostfree higher-derivative modifications of Einstein gravity in the ultra-violet regime can admit non-singular…