Related papers: A universal bound on N-point correlations from inf…
We discuss how primordial non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbation helps to constrain models of the early universe. Observations are consistent with Gaussian initial conditions, compatible with the predictions of the simplest models of…
Inflation is well known to be difficult in the context of supergravity, if the potential is dominated by the $F$ term. Non-renormalizable terms generically give $|V''|\sim V/M^2$, where $V(\phi)$ is the inflaton potential and $M$ is the…
We study models with several $SU(2)$ scalar doublets where the inert doublets have a non-minimal coupling to gravity and play the role of the inflaton. We allow for this coupling to be complex, thereby introducing CP-violation -- a…
We use the long-wavelength formalism to investigate the level of bispectral non-Gaussianity produced in two-field inflation models with standard kinetic terms. Even though the Planck satellite has so far not detected any primordial…
During inflation, there is a preferred reference frame in which the expansion of the background spacetime is spatially isotropic. In contrast to Minkowski spacetime, observables can depend on the velocity of the system with respect to this…
We investigate constraints that the requirements of perturbativity and gauge coupling unification impose on extensions of the Standard Model and of the MSSM. In particular, we discuss the renormalization group running in several SUSY…
It is proposed that if quantum states of space-time are coherent on null surfaces, holographic Planck-scale fluctuations of inflationary horizons dominate the formation of primordial scalar curvature perturbations. It is shown that the…
We revisit the constraints on inflation models by using the current cosmological observations involving the latest local measurement of the Hubble constant ($H_{0} = 73.00\pm 1.75$ km s $^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$). We constrain the primordial power…
The inflationary paradigm has enjoyed phenomenological success, however, a compelling particle physics realization is still lacking. The key obstruction is that the requirement of a suitably flat scalar potential is sensitive to…
A variant of hybrid inflation which is applicable in a wide class of supersymmetric grand unified models and reproduces the observed temperature perturbations of cosmic background radiation with natural values of the parameters is…
$R^2$-Higgs inflation stands out as one of the best-fit models of Planck data. Using a covariant formalism for the inflationary dynamics and the production of helical gauge fields, we show that the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe…
In a variety of inflation models the motion of the inflaton may trigger the production of some non-inflaton particles during inflation, for example via parametric resonance or a phase transition. Particle production during inflation leads…
An interesting test on the nature of the Universe is to measure the global spatial curvature of the metric in a model independent way, at a level of $|\Omega_k|<10^{-4}$, or, if possible, at the cosmic variance level of the amplitude of the…
In the standard inflationary paradigm the inhomogeneities observed in the CMB arise from quantum fluctuations of an initially homogeneous and isotropic vacuum state. This picture suffers from two well-known weaknesses. First, it assumes…
This is a review of models of inflation and of their predictions for the primordial non-Gaussianity in the density perturbations which are thought to be at the origin of structures in the Universe. Non-Gaussianity emerges as a key…
In spite of the macroscopic character of the fluctuation amplitudes, we show that the standard inflationary distribution of primordial density fluctuations still exhibits inherently quantum mechanical correlations (which cannot be mimicked…
We embed the supersymmetric standard model of hybrid inflation based on the next-to-minimal superpotential term $\lambda NH_uH_d$ supplemented by an inflaton term $\kappa \phi N^2$, into an extra-dimensional framework, in which all the…
Recent results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), indicating a higher and more tightly constrained scalar spectral index, $n_s = 0.9743 \pm 0.0034$, place several inflationary models under tension, with quintessential inflation…
A new shifted hybrid inflationary scenario is introduced which, in contrast to the older one, relies only on renormalizable superpotential terms. This scenario is automatically realized in a concrete extension of the "minimal"…
We compute all N-point primordial curvature correlation functions from inflation at tree-level up to N of order ten or more depending on the choice of parameters. This is achieved for resonant inflationary models in which the inflaton…