Related papers: A Field Range Bound for General Single-Field Infla…
We construct a family of simple single-field inflation models consistent with Planck / BICEP Keck bounds which have a parametrically small tensor amplitude and no running of the scalar spectral index. The construction consists of a…
We revisit models of natural inflation and show that the single-field effective theory described by the potential $V(a)\sim \cos\frac{a}{f}$ breaks down as the inflaton $a$ makes large-field excursions, even for values of $f$ smaller than…
During single clock inflation, hidden fields (i.e. fields coupled to the inflaton only gravitationally) in their adiabatic vacua can ordinarily only affect observables through virtual effects. After renormalizing background quantities…
We study the linear perturbation of the recently proposed model of inflation where a uniform gauge-kinetic coupling of the inflaton to multiple vector fields breaks the cosmic no-hair conjecture while maintaining the isotropy. We derive the…
Generalized slow roll conditions and parameters are obtained for a general form of scalar-tensor theory (with no external sources), having arbitrary functions describing a nonminimal gravitational coupling F(\phi), a Kahler-like kinetic…
We consider small-field models which invoke the usual framework for the effective field theory, and large-field models which go beyond that. Present and future possibilities for discriminating between the models are assessed, on the…
In this PhD thesis, we investigate generic features of inflation which are strictly related to fundamental aspects of UV-physics scenarios, such as string theory or supergravity. After a short introduction to standard and inflationary…
Motivated by the prospect of testing inflation from precision cosmic microwave background observations, we present analytic results for scalar and tensor perturbations in single-field inflation models based on the application of uniform…
We consider the polynomial inflation with the tensor-to-scalar ratio as large as possible which can be consistent with the Quantum Gravity (QG) corrections and Effective Field Theory (EFT). To get a minimal field excursion $\Delta\phi$ for…
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 show how general initial conditions for small field inflation can be obtained in multi-field models. This is provided by non-linear angular friction terms in the inflaton that provide a phase of non-slow-roll inflation before the…
It has recently been shown that in single field slow-roll inflation the total volume cannot grow by a factor larger than e^(S_dS/2) without becoming infinite. The bound is saturated exactly at the phase transition to eternal inflation where…
We calculate the three-point function for primordial scalar fluctuations in a single field inflationary scenario where the scalar field Lagrangian is a completely general function of the field and its first derivative. We obtain an explicit…
We present constraints on how far single field inflation may depart from the familiar slow-roll paradigm. Considering a fast-roll regime while requiring a (near)-scale-invariant power spectrum introduces large self-interactions for the…
We go a step further in the search for a consistent and realistic supergravity model of large-field inflation by building a class of models with the following features: during slow-roll, all the scalar fields other than the inflaton are…
A detection of large local form non-Gaussianity is considered to be able to rule out all single field inflation models. This statement is based on a single field consistency condition. Despite the awareness of some implicit assumptions in…
In this paper, we investigate various inflation models in the context of the no-boundary proposal. We propose that a good inflation model should satisfy three conditions: observational constraints, plausible initial conditions, and…
Employing an effective field theory approach to inflationary perturbations, we analyze in detail the effect of curvature-generated Lagrangian operators on various observables, focusing on their running with scales. At quadratic order, we…
We show how observations of the perturbation spectra produced during inflation may be used to constrain the parameters of general scalar-tensor theories of gravity, which include both an inflaton and dilaton field. An interesting feature of…
We examine the dynamics of inflation driven by multiple, interacting scalar fields and derive a multi field version of the Hubble slow roll expansion. We show that the properties of this expansion naturally generalize those of the single…