Related papers: Scale-Invariant Curvature Fluctuations from an Ext…
A quantitative test for the validity of the semi-classical approximation in gravity is given. The criterion proposed is that solutions to the semi-classical Einstein equations should be stable to linearized perturbations, in the sense that…
Inflation is often described through the dynamics of a scalar field, slow-rolling in a suitable potential. Ultimately, this inflaton must be identified as the expectation value of a quantum field, evolving in a quantum effective potential.…
We investigate tensor modes in inflationary scenarios from the point of view of Ashtekar variables and their generalizations labelled by Immirzi parameter \gamma, which we'll assume imaginary. By defining the classical perturbed…
A field kinetic coupling with the Einstein tensor leads to a gravitationally enhanced friction during inflation, by which even steep potentials with theoretically natural model parameters can drive cosmic acceleration. In the presence of…
We compute the covariant three-point function near horizon-crossing for a system of slowly-rolling scalar fields during an inflationary epoch, allowing for an arbitrary field-space metric. We show explicitly how to compute its subsequent…
We study the scalar-tensor-tensor non-Gaussian signal in an inflationary model comprising also an axion coupled with SU(2) gauge fields. In this set-up, metric fluctuations are sourced by the gauge fields already at the linear level…
We consider a quantum deformation of the wave equation on a cosmological background as a toy-model for possible trans-Planckian effects. We compute the power spectrum of scalar and tensor fluctuations for power-law inflation, and find a…
We investigate the problem of metric fluctuations in the presence of the vacuum fluctuations of matter fields and critically assess the usual assertion that vacuum energy implies a Planckian cosmological constant. A new stochastic classical…
It is sometimes argued that observation of tensor modes from inflation would provide the first evidence for quantum gravity. However, in the usual inflationary formalism, also the scalar modes involve quantised metric perturbations. We…
The determination of the inflationary energy scale represents one of the first step towards the understanding of the early Universe physics. The (very mild) non-Gaussian signals that arise from any inflation model carry information about…
Quantum fluctuations of a nonminimally coupled scalar field in D-dimensional homogeneous and isotropic background are calculated within the operator formalism in curved models with time evolutions of the scale factor that allow smooth…
We study a non-relativistic realisation of two-dimensional de Sitter gravity both from its boundary and bulk description with the goal of learning about de Sitter space and paving the way for extending the holographic duality into a…
We consider an infrared truncated massless minimally coupled scalar field with a quartic self-interaction in the locally de Sitter background of an inflating universe. We compute the two-point correlation function of the scalar at one and…
We study the evolution of quantum fluctuations of a scalar field which is coupled to the geometry, in an exponentially expanding universe. We derive an expression for the spectrum of intrinsic perturbations, and it is shown that the…
We study how large fluctuations are spatially correlated in the presence of quantum diffusion during inflation. This is done by computing real-space correlation functions in the stochastic-$\delta N$ formalism. We first derive an exact…
We investigate quantum entanglement of a scalar field in the inflationary universe. By introducing a bipartite system using a lattice model of scalar field, we apply the separability criterion based on the partial transpose operation and…
We treat the semiclassical Einstein equation as a quantum-classical hybrid and demonstrate the formal equivalence of its two derivation methods. This approach identifies the left-hand side of the equation as the expectation value of the…
We present a covariant study of static space-times, as such and as solutions of gravity theories. By expressing the relevant tensors through the velocity and the acceleration vectors that characterise static space-times, the field equations…
Recently proposed two swampland criteria that arising from string theory landscape lead to the important challenge of the realization of single-field inflationary models. Especially one of swampland criteria which implies a large…
We study the quantum-gravitational corrections to the power spectrum of a gauge-invariant inflationary scalar perturbations in a closed model of a universe. We consider canonical quantum gravity as an approach to quantizing gravity. This…