Related papers: The Overshoot Problem in Inflation after Tunneling
We revisit the reheating mechanism after the end of inflation in the non-minimal derivative coupling (NDC) to gravity with quadratic potential. This is because the inflaton of the NDC should describe the slow-roll inflation as well as the…
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…
The abundance of the QCD axion is known to be suppressed if the Hubble parameter during inflation, $H_{\rm inf}$, is lower than the QCD scale, and if the inflation lasts sufficiently long. We show that the tight upper bound on the inflation…
We show that a Weyl-flat null origin of inflation need not be in tension with present observations. For canonical single-field inflation, any background with $\epsilon(N)\to \epsilon_\infty\in(0,1)$ as $N\to\infty$ is asymptotically…
We propose a general scenario for moduli stabilization where low-energy supersymmetry can be accommodated with a high scale of inflation. The key ingredient is that the stabilization of the modulus field during and after inflation is not…
We study the dual 3d Euclidean RG flow of single-field slow-roll Inflation using the postulates of the dS/CFT correspondence. For that purpose we solve for the inflationary fluctuation at all times using a matching procedure between two…
We develop our recent suggestion that inflation may be made past eternal, so that there is no initial cosmological singularity or "beginning of time". Inflation with multiple vacua generically approaches a steady-state statistical…
We propose a novel scenario in which scalar perturbations, that seed the large scale structure of the Universe, are generated without relying on a scalar field (the inflaton). In this framework, inflation is driven by a de Sitter space-time…
I give a general formulation of the constraints on models of inflation ended by a first order phase transition arising from the requirement that they do not produce too many large (observable) true vacuum voids -- the `big bubble problem'.…
In the model of Chain Inflation, a sequential chain of coupled scalar fields drives inflation. We consider a multidimensional potential with a large number of bowls, or local minima, separated by energy barriers: inflation takes place as…
In the present paper we discuss how trans-Planckian physics affects inflationary vacuum fluctuations and primordial density perturbations. The trans-Planckian problem during inflation has been widely discussed in literature, but it is still…
In some versions of the theory of inflation, it is assumed that before inflation began the universe was in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) stage, with the energy density dominated by massless particles. The origin of the nearly…
We propose an intuitive framework for studying the problem of initial conditions in slow-roll inflation. In particular, we consider a universe at high, but sub-Planckian energy density and analyze the circumstances under which it is…
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…
We explore the consequences of a detection of primordial tensor fluctuations for general single-field models of inflation. Using the effective theory of inflation, we propose a generalization of the Lyth bound. Our bound applies to all…
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…
The violation of the null energy condition (NEC) may play a crucial role in enabling a scalar field to climb over high potential barriers, potentially significant in the very early universe. We propose a single-field model where the…
We address some issues of topological defect inflation. (1) We clarify the causal structure of an inflating magnetic monopole. The spacetime diagram shows explicitly that this model is free from the ``graceful exit'' problem, while the…
We argue that moduli stabilization generically restricts the evolution following transitions between weakly coupled de Sitter vacua and can induce a strong selection bias towards inflationary cosmologies. The energy density of domain walls…
We investigate a novel single field inflationary scenario which allows a transition between a slow-roll k-inflation with $c_{\rm s}$ of order unity and a ghost inflation with $ c_{\rm s} \simeq 0$, where $ c_{\rm s}$ is the sound speed for…