Related papers: Optimizing future experimental probes of inflation
While attempting to connect inflationary theories to observational physics, a potential difficulty is the degeneracy problem: a single set of observables maps to a range of different inflaton potentials. Two important classes of models…
We explore the ability of experimental physics to uncover the underlying structure of the gravitational Lagrangian describing inflation. While the observable degeneracy of the inflationary parameter space is large, future measurements of…
In this article we discuss the role of current and future CMB measurements in pinning down the model of inflation responsible for the generation of primordial curvature perturbations. By considering a parameterization of the effective field…
The expected improvements in the precision of inflationary physics observables including the scalar spectral index $n_{s}$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ will reveal more than just the viability of a particular model of inflation. In…
In the curvaton scenario, primordial curvature perturbations are produced by a second field that is sub-dominant during inflation. Depending on how the curvaton decays [possibly producing baryon number, lepton number, or cold dark matter…
In the curvaton model of inflation, where a second scalar field, the "curvaton", is responsible for the observed inhomogeneity, a non-zero neutrino degeneracy may lead to a characteristic pattern of isocurvature perturbations in the…
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…
Forthcoming missions probing the absolute intensity of the CMB are expected to be able to measure spectral distortions, which are deviations from its blackbody distribution. As cosmic inflation can induce spectral distortions, these…
We study the degeneracy of the primordial spectrum and bispectrum of the curvature perturbation in single field inflationary models with a class of features in the inflaton potential. The feature we consider is a discontinuous change in the…
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…
We are on the verge of the first precision testing of the inflationary cosmology as a model for the origin of structure in the Universe. I review the key predictions of inflation which can be used as observational tests, in the sense of…
Some inflationary models predict the existence of isocurvature primordial fluctuations, in addition to the well known adiabatic perturbation. Such mixed models are not yet ruled out by available data sets. In this paper we explore the…
In an inflationary cosmology, the observed primoridal density perturbation could come from the quantum fluctuations of another light 'curvaton' field, rather than the inflaton. In this case, it is essential that the curvaton decays,…
The delensing of cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps will be increasingly valuable for extracting as much information as possible from future CMB surveys. Delensing provides many general benefits, including sharpening of the acoustic…
Prior to recombination, Silk damping causes the dissipation of energy from acoustic waves into the monopole of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting in spectral distortions. These can be used to probe the primordial scalar power…
The presence of multiple fields during inflation might seed a detectable amount of non-Gaussianity in the curvature perturbations, which in turn becomes observable in present data sets like the cosmic microwave background (CMB) or the large…
Inflation models make specific predictions for a tensor-scalar-scalar three-point correlation, or bispectrum, between one gravitational-wave (tensor) mode and two density-perturbation (scalar) modes. This tensor-scalar-scalar correlation…
Curvatons are light (compared to the Hubble scale during inflation) spectator fields during inflation that potentially contribute to adiabatic curvature perturbations post-inflation. They can alter CMB observables such as the spectral index…
The curvaton scenario for the generation of the cosmological curvature perturbation on large scales represents an alternative to the standard slow-roll scenario of inflation in which the observed density perturbations are due to…
Modulated (p)reheating is thought to be an alternative mechanism for producing super-horizon curvature perturbations in CMB. But large non-gaussianity and iso-curvature perturbations produced by this mechanism rule out its acceptability as…