Related papers: Cosmological Fluctuations from Infra-Red Cascading…
I study the gauge-invariant fluctuations of the metric during inflation. In the infrared sector the metric fluctuations can be represented by a coarse-grained field. We can write a Schroedinger equation for the coarse-grained metric…
We construct a hybrid-inflation model where the inflaton potential is generated radiatively, as gauge symmetries guarantee it to be accidentally flat at tree level. The model can be regarded as a small-field version of Natural Inflation,…
The spectrum of curvature perturbation generated during inflation is studied in the case the inflation-driving scalar field (inflaton) $\phi$ crosses over its potential extremum. It is shown that the nondecaying mode of perturbation has a…
We derive an uncertainty relation for the energy density and pressure of a quantum scalar field in a time-dependent, homogeneous and isotropic, classical background, which implies the existence of large fluctuations comparable to their…
Chromo-Natural Inflation is the first worked example of a model of inflation in which slow-roll inflation is achieved by "magnetic drift" as opposed to Hubble friction. In this work, we give an account of the perturbations at linear order…
We draw attention to the possibility that inflation (i.e. accelerated expansion) might continue after the end of slow roll, during a period of fast oscillations of the inflaton field \phi . This phenomenon takes place when a mild…
We consider a scenario in which the inflaton $\phi$ is a pseudoscalar field non-minimally coupled to gravity through a term of the form ${\cal X} R \phi^2$. The pseudoscalar is also coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field (or an ensemble of ${\cal…
We present a mechanism for the origin of the large-scale curvature perturbation in our Universe by the late decay of a massive scalar field, the curvaton. The curvaton is light during a period of cosmological inflation, when it acquires a…
We discuss the gravitational creation of superheavy particles $\chi$ in an inflationary scenario with a quartic potential and a non-minimal coupling between the inflaton $\varphi$ and the Ricci curvature: $\xi \varphi^2 R/2$. We show that…
Inflation models can have an early phase of inflation where the evolution of the inflaton is driven by quantum fluctuations before entering the phase driven by the slope of the scalar field potential. For a Coleman-Weinberg potential this…
During de Sitter inflation massless particles of minimally coupled scalar fields acquire a mass and a decay width thereby becoming \emph{quasiparticles}. For bare massless particles non-perturbative infrared radiative corrections lead to a…
We present a detailed derivation of the recently suggested new type of hill-top inflation [arXiv:1509.07270] originating from the microcanonical density matrix initial conditions in cosmology driven by conformal field theory (CFT). The…
The density fluctuations that we observe in the universe today are thought to originate from quantum fluctuations produced during a phase of the early universe called inflation. By evolving a wavefunction describing two coupled Fourier…
We investigate thermal inflation in double-screen entropic cosmology. We find that its realization is general, resulting from the system evolution from non-equilibrium to equilibrium. Furthermore, going beyond the background evolution, we…
In inflationary cosmological models driven by an inflaton field the origin of the primordial inhomogeneities which are responsible for large scale structure formation are the quantum fluctuations of the inflaton field. These are usually…
Cosmic inflation provides a compelling framework for explaining several observed features of our Universe, but its viability depends on an efficient reheating phase that converts the inflaton's energy into Standard Model particles. This…
We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations on large scales, up to second order, for a perfect fluid with generic equation of state. Taking advantage of super-horizon conservation laws, it is possible to follow the evolution of the…
We show that there are inflationary models for which perturbations in the energy momentum tensor, which are of second order in the scalar field, cannot be neglected. We first specify the conditions under which the usual first order…
We investigate if the observed small and nearly scale-invariant primordial cosmic perturbation, i.e. the perturbation amplitude $P_\zeta\sim10^{-9}$ and the spectral index $n_s \simeq 0.965$, is typical in the landscape of vacua after…
In most current models of inflation based on a weakly self-coupled scalar matter field minimally coupled to gravity, the period of inflation lasts so long that, at the beginning of the inflationary period, the physical wavelengths of…