Related papers: Loop corrections and a new test of inflation
The aim of this paper is to show, that the 'oscillating universe' is a viable alternative to inflation. We remind that this model provides a natural solution to the flatness or entropy and to the horizon problem of standard cosmology. We…
We explore the consequences of the existence of a very large number of light scalar degrees of freedom in the early universe. We distinguish between participator and spectator fields. The former have a small mass, and can contribute to the…
In the ``natural inflation'' model, the inflaton potential is periodic. We show that Planck scale physics may induce corrections to the inflaton potential, which is also periodic with a greater frequency. Such high frequency corrections…
If time-dependent disruptions from slow-roll occur during inflation, the correlation functions of the primordial curvature perturbation should have scale-dependent features, a case which is marginally supported from the cosmic microwave…
This article is devoted to the study of scalar perturbations in loop quantum cosmology. It aims at clarifying the situation with respect to the way initial conditions are set and to the specific choice of an inflaton potential. Several…
The calculation of scalar gravitational and matter perturbations during multiple-field inflation valid to first order in slow roll is discussed. These fields may be the coordinates of a non-trivial field manifold and hence have non-minimal…
The impact of particle production during inflation on the primordial curvature perturbation spectrum is investigated both analytically and numerically. We obtain an oscillatory behavior on small scales, while on large scales the spectrum is…
Cosmological $\alpha$-attractors stand out as particularly compelling models to describe inflation in the very early universe, naturally meeting tight observational bounds from cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. We investigate…
We re-examine the constraints on the density perturbation spectrum, including its spectral index $n$, from the production of primordial black holes. The standard cosmology, where the Universe is radiation dominated from the end of inflation…
The full set of cosmological observables coming from linear scalar and tensor perturbations of loop quantum cosmology is computed in the presence of inverse-volume corrections. Background inflationary solutions are found at linear order in…
A rapid phase of accelerated expansion in the early universe, known as inflation, dilutes all matter except the vacuum induced quantum fluctuations. These are responsible for seeding the initial perturbations in the baryonic matter, the…
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…
We investigate the possibility that the primordial perturbation has two sources: the inflaton and a spectator field, which is not dynamically important during inflation but which after inflation can contribute to the curvature perturbation.…
Small-scale scalar perturbations amplified during inflation can induce primordial gravitational waves through tensor-scalar interactions. A long-standing controversial issue is whether the one-loop corrections to tensor perturbations exist…
Inflationary scenarios motivated by high-energy physics generically contain a plethora of degrees of freedom beyond the primordial curvature perturbation. The latter interacts in a simple way with what we name "inflationary flavor…
A claimed detection of cosmological tensor perturbations from inflation via B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background requires distinguishing other possible B-mode sources. One such potential source of confusion is primordial…
In the primordial universe, fields with mass much larger than the mass-scale of the event-horizon (such as the Hubble parameter in inflation) exist ubiquitously, and can be excited from time to time and oscillate quickly around their…
We examine cosmological perturbations in a dynamical theory of inflation in which an Abelian gauge field couples directly to the inflaton, breaking conformal invariance. When the coupling between the gauge field and the inflaton takes a…
We discuss the possible existence of features in both the primordial power spectrum and bispectrum generated during a stage of single field cosmic inflation. We argue that there are two main classes of features: those produced by a sudden…
Bayesian model comparison penalizes models with more free parameters that are allowed to vary over a wide range, and thus offers the most robust method to decide whether some given data require new parameters. In this paper, we ask a simple…