Related papers: Loop effects and infrared divergences in slow-roll…
Nonminimal coupling of the inflaton field to the Ricci curvature of spacetime is generally unavoidable, and the paradigm of inflation should be generalized by including the corresponding term in the Lagrangian of the inflationary theory.…
We study the generation of primordial perturbations in a (single-field) slow-roll inflationary universe. In momentum space, these (Gaussian) perturbations are characterized by a zero mean and a non-zero variance $\Delta^2(k, t)$. However,…
The next generation of cosmological observations will be sensitive to small deviations from a pure power law in the primordial power spectrum of the curvature perturbations. In the context of slow-roll inflation, these deviations are…
We point out that the theoretical predictions for the inflationary observables may be generically altered by the presence of fields which are heavier than the Hubble rate during inflation and whose dynamics is usually neglected. They…
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 show that an inflationary slow-roll potential can be derived as an IR limit of the non-perturbative exact renormalisation group equation for a scalar field within the mean-field approximation. The result follows without having to specify…
In addition to generating the appropriate perturbation power spectrum, an inflationary scenario must take into account the need for inflation to end subsequently. In the context of single-field inflation models where inflation ends by…
We make use of possible high energy correction to the Friedmann equation to implement the bounce and study the behavior of massive scalar field before and after bounce semianalytically and numerically. We find that the slow-roll inflation…
We develop in this thesis the principles governing the production of our universe's primordial inhomogeneities during its early phase of inflation. As a guiding thread we ask what physics during inflation can lead to perturbations so large…
The computation of the spectrum of primordial perturbations, generated by a scalar field during the super-inflationary phase of Loop Quantum Cosmology, is revisited. The calculation is performed for two different cases. The first considers…
We present counter examples to the claim that the $\lambda \phi^4$ inflaton potential is excluded by recent cosmological data. Finding counter examples requires that the actually observed primordial fluctuations are generated at the onset…
Until recently our knowledge of the primordial curvature perturbation was relatively modest. Ever since COBE delivered its map of data we know the scalar spectrum of primordial perturbations is approximately flat, with the power being only…
We draw attention to the possibility that inflation (i.e. accelerated expansion) might continue after the end of slow roll, during a period of fast oscillations of the inflaton field \phi . This phenomenon takes place when a mild…
We investigate the inflationary universe in a theory where two scalar fields non-minimally coupling to the scalar curvature and an extra $R^2$ term exist and the conformal invariance is broken. In particular, the slow-roll inflation is…
Light scalars in inflationary spacetimes suffer from logarithmic infrared divergences at every order in perturbation theory. This corresponds to the scalar field values in different Hubble patches undergoing a random walk of quantum…
In this note we point out that, contrary to the standard point of view, slow roll inflation is due to high gravitational friction. We show that the requirement of slow roll coincides with the requirement of a flat scalar field potential in…
We consider the torsional completion of gravity with spinor and scalar fields: we show how in this environment conditions of extreme symmetry or specific approximations imply the scalar field to be constant, so that slow-roll takes place…
We study slow-roll inflation driven by a scalar field non-minimally coupled to gravity within the effective framework of Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC), including inverse-volume corrections. We consider two physically motivated classes of…
The scalar perturbations in inflationary models, based on a two-component diagonal non-linear sigma model, are considered. For inhomogeneities generated at an inflationary stage, the law of motion of the comoving curvature ${\cal R}$ is…
We investigate the dynamics of super-inflation in two versions of Loop Quantum Cosmology, one in which the Friedmann equation is modified by the presence of inverse volume corrections, and one in which quadratic corrections are important.…