Related papers: Initial Conditions for Non-Canonical Inflation
We explore the dynamics of multi-field models of inflation in which the field-space metric is a hyperbolic manifold of constant curvature. Such models are known as $\alpha$-attractors and their single-field regimes have been extensively…
During inflation, higher derivative terms in the gravitational action may play a significant role. Building on new stable formulations of four-derivative scalar-tensor theories, we study the impact of these corrections in the case where the…
Many alternatives to canonical slow-roll inflation have been proposed over the years, one of the main motivations being to have a model, capable of generating observable values of non-Gaussianity. In this work, we (re-)explore the physical…
Inflaton coupling to a vector field via the $f^2(\phi)F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$ term is used in several contexts in the literature, such as to generate primordial magnetic fields, to produce statistically anisotropic curvature perturbation, to…
The possibility of thermally induced initial density perturbations in inflationary cosmology is examined. The fluctuation dynamics of a scalar field plus thermal bath system during slow roll is described by a Langevin-like equation.…
The trans-Planckian censorship conjecture implies that single-field models of inflation require an extreme fine-tuning of the initial conditions due to the very low-scale of inflation. In this work, we show how a quantum cosmological…
The original model of axion natural inflation produces a tensor-to-scalar ratio above the experimental limit. Aligned axion inflation admits inflationary trajectories that originate near a saddle point of the two-field potential, and…
Inflationary cosmology attempts to provide a natural explanation for the flatness and homogeneity of the observable universe. In the context of reversible (unitary) evolution, this goal is difficult to satisfy, as Liouville's theorem…
Stochastic effects in generic scenarios of inflation with multiple fields are investigated. First passage time techniques are employed to calculate the statistical moments of the number of inflationary $e$-folds, which give rise to all…
In this thesis we will primarily demonstrate how additional scalar degrees of freedom - which are motivated from many high-energy embeddings - open up new observational windows onto the physics of inflation. We construct a Bayesian…
The purpose of these lectures is to give a pedagogical introduction to inflation and the production of primordial perturbations, as well as a review of some of the latest developments in this domain. After a short introduction, we review…
Many inflating spacetimes are likely to violate the weak energy condition, a key assumption of singularity theorems. Here we offer a simple kinematical argument, requiring no energy condition, that a cosmological model which is inflating --…
We suggest a new type of hill-top inflation originating from the initial conditions in the form of the microcanonical density matrix for the cosmological model with a large number of quantum fields conformally coupled to gravity. Initial…
The calculation of scalar gravitational and matter perturbations during multiple-field inflation valid to first order in slow roll is discussed. These fields may be the coordinates of a non-trivial field manifold and hence have non-minimal…
We reanalyze cosmology of a non-minimally coupled massive scalar field which was originally discussed by Futamase and Maeda in the context of chaotic inflation scenario. We find a new type of inflationary solution where inflation occurs…
We study inflationary scenarios driven by a scalar field in the presence of a non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature. We show that the Friedmann equation can be significantly modified when the energy density during inflation…
We briefly review the arising of an inflationary phase in the Universe evolution in order to discuss an inhomogeneous cosmological solution in presence of a real self interacting scalar field minimally coupled to gravity in the region of a…
A continuous process of creation of particles is investigated as a possible connection between the inflationary stage with late cosmic acceleration. In this model, the inflationary era occurs due to a continuous and fast process of creation…
Quantization implies independent degrees of freedom that do not appear in the classical theory, given by fluctuations, correlations, and higher moments of a state. A systematic derivation of the resulting dynamical systems is presented here…
We propose a simple modified gravity model without any initial matter fields in terms of several alternative non-Riemannian spacetime volume elements within the metric (second order) formalism. We show how the non-Riemannian…