Related papers: Inflation with General Initial Conditions for Scal…
Since the advent of inflation, several theorems have been proven suggesting that although inflation can (and generically does) continue eternally into the future, it cannot be extended eternally into the past to create a ``steady-state''…
We present a calculation of the power spectrum generated in a classically symmetry-breaking O(N) scalar field through inflationary quantum fluctuations, using the large-N limit. The effective potential of the theory in de Sitter space is…
The BICEP2 collaboration has for the first time observed the B-mode polarization associated with inflationary gravitational waves. Their result has some discomfiting implications for the validity of an effective theory approach to…
We demonstrate that in the presence of a light scalar spectator field, vacuum transitions taking place during inflation can produce large, potentially detectable non-Gaussian signatures in the primordial curvature perturbation. Such…
We discuss the coupled Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations for a complex scalar field with and without a quartic self-interaction in a zero curvature Friedman-Lema\^{\i}tre Universe. The complex scalar field, as well as the metric, is…
We compute the leading order non-Gaussianity, i.e., the bispectrum, of the tensor perturbation in the general $\alpha$-vacuum on de Sitter space in general relativity. In addition to the well-known Bunch-Davies (BD) vacuum, there exits an…
These notes present a detailed introduction to Maldacena's calculation of the three-point function generated by the simplest class of inflationary models: those with a single inflaton field whose potential satisfies the slow-roll conditions…
The present paper tries to answer the question: Can a de Sitter phase in presence of radiation be a competitor of the standard inflationary paradigm for the early universe? This kind of a de Sitter phase can exist in cosmological models…
Combining Planck CMB temperature [1] and BICEP2 B-mode polarization data [2,3] we show qualitatively that, assuming inflationary consistency relation, the power-law form of the scalar primordial spectrum is ruled out at more than $3\sigma$…
To derive a power spectrum for energy density inhomogeneities in a closed universe, we study a spatially-closed inflation-modified hot big bang model whose evolutionary history is divided into three epochs: an early slowly-rolling scalar…
We treat a model in which tensor perturbations of de~Sitter spacetime, represented as a spatially flat model, are modified by the effects of the vacuum fluctuations of a massless conformally invariant field, such as the electromagnetic…
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…
The theory of cosmological fluctuations assumes that the pre-inflationary state of the universe was the quantum vacuum of a scalar field(s) coupled to gravity. The observed cosmic microwave background fluctuations are then interpreted as…
We study the correction to the scale invariant power spectrum of a scalar field on de Sitter space from small black holes that formed during a pre-inflationary matter dominated era. The formation probability of such black holes is estimated…
An inflationary brane model driven by a bulk inflaton with exponential potential is proposed. We find a family of exact solutions that describe power-law inflation on the brane. These solutions enable us to derive exact solutions for metric…
We investigate the initial conditions of inflation in a Bianchi~I universe that is homogeneous but not isotropic. We use the Eisenhart lift to describe such a theory geometrically as geodesics on a field space manifold. We construct the…
In a general single field inflationary model we consider the effects of long wavelength scalar fluctuations on the effective expansion rate and equation of state seen by a class of free falling observers, using a physical gauge invariant…
We study the structure of multi-field inflation models where the primordial curvature perturbation is able to vigorously interact with an ultra-light isocurvature field -- a massless fluctuation orthogonal to the background inflationary…
We propose a new mechanism to generate density perturbations in inflationary models. Spatial fluctuations in the decay rate of the inflaton field to ordinary matter lead to fluctuations in the reheating temperature. We argue that in most…
Spectrum of density perturbations in the Universe generated from quantum-gravitational fluctuations in slow-roll-over inflationary scenarios with the Brans-Dicke gravity is calculated. It is shown that after inflation the isocurvature mode…