Related papers: Inflation from R^2 gravity: a new approach using n…
Nonlinear electrodynamics with two dimensional parameters is studied. The range of electromagnetic fields when principles of causality, unitarity and the classical stability hold, are obtained. A singularity of the electric field at the…
We study extended theories of gravity where nonminimal derivative couplings of the form $R^{kl}\phi_{, k}\phi_{, l}$ are present in the Lagrangian. We show how and why the other couplings of similar structure may be ruled out and then…
A modified model of gravity with additional positive and negative powers of the scalar curvature, $R$, in the gravitational action is studied. This is done using the Palatini variational principle. It is demonstrated that using such a model…
We study a model of inflation in which a scalar field $\chi$ is non-minimally coupled to Starobinsky's $R^2$ gravity. After transforming it to the Einstein frame, a new scalar field, the scalaron $\phi$, will appear and couple to $\chi$…
An N=1 Poincare supergravity action, suitable for describing the Starobinsky inflation, is proposed. It extends f(R) gravity to supergravity in its old-minimal version. The action is parametrized by a single holomorphic potential and a…
We argue that the Starobinsky model of inflation, realised via an $R^2$ term in the Lagrangian, can originate from quantum effects due to a tower of light species. By means of two separate arguments, we show how this implies that the scale…
Motivated by the properties of matter quantum fields in curved space-times, we work out a gravity theory that combines the Born-Infeld gravity Lagrangian with an $f(R)$ piece. To avoid ghost-like instabilities, the theory is formulated…
We propose a scenario of the beginning of inflation in which the non-vacuum value of the scalar field that drives inflation develops dynamically due to the non-minimal coupling to gravity. In this scenario, inflation emerges as an…
We study a model of inflation with terms quadratic and logarithmic in the Ricci scalar, where the gravitational action is $f(R)=R+\alpha R^2+\beta R^2 \ln R$. These terms are expected to arise from one loop corrections involving matter…
We analyse $f(R)$ theories of gravity from a dynamical system perspective, showing how the $R^2$ correction in Starobinsky's model plays a crucial role from the viewpoint of the inflationary paradigm. Then, we propose a modification of…
Whichever could be the real theory of gravitation, the corresponding low-energy effective lagrangian will probably contain higher derivative terms. In this work we study the general conditions on those terms in order to produce enough…
The evidence of the acceleration of universe at present time has lead to investigate modified theories of gravity and alternative theories of gravity, which are able to explain acceleration from a theoretical viewpoint without the need of…
In the context of nonminimally coupled $f(R)$ gravity theories, we study early inflation driven by a nonlinear monopole magnetic field which is nonminimally coupled to curvature. In order to isolate the effects of the nonminimal coupling…
This thesis presents research exploring aspects of inflation and cosmology in the context of inflation models in which an inflaton is non-minimally coupled to the Ricci scalar, or is considered in conjunction with a term quadratic in the…
In this paper we derive the Modified Friedmann equation in the Palatini formulation of $R^2$ gravity. Then we use it to discuss the problem of whether in Palatini formulation a $R^2$ term can drive an inflation. We show that the Palatini…
A new model of nonlinear electrodynamics with dimensional parameters $\beta$ and $\gamma$ is proposed. The principles of causality and unitarity are studied. We show that a singularity of the electric field at the origin of charges is…
We propose a class of scalar models that, once coupled to gravity, lead to cosmologies that smoothly and stably connect an inflationary quasi-de Sitter universe to a low, or even zero-curvature, maximally symmetric spacetime in the…
We consider initial conditions leading to Starobinsky inflation in the general quadratic gravity, where the action of the theory contains one more curvature square invariant in addition to $R^2$. We have chosen corresponding coefficients in…
It is commonly assumed that the Lagrangian of multi-field theories of gravity contains the sum of kinetic terms of scalar fields. However, we propose here the Lagrangian contains not the sum but the quotient of kinetic terms. With this…
We present an introduction to cosmic inflation in the context of Palatini gravity, which is an interesting alternative to the usual metric theory of gravity. In the latter case only the metric $g_{\mu\nu}$ determines the geometry of…