Related papers: Higher order statistics of curvature perturbations…

We study the bispectrum of the curvature perturbation on uniform energy density hypersurfaces in models of inflation with two scalar fields evolving simultaneously. In the case of a separable potential, it is possible to compute the…

We present a model of inflation in which the inflaton field is charged under a triplet of $U(1)$ gauge fields. The model enjoys an internal $O(3)$ symmetry supporting the isotropic FRW solution. With an appropriate coupling between the…

We argue that in models of inflation with two scalar fields and non-canonical kinetic terms there is a possibility of obtaining a red tilt of the power spectrum of curvature perturbations from noncanonicality-induced interactions between…

The curvaton scenario predicts an almost scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations in most inflation models. We consider the possibility that renormalisable phi^4 or Planck scale-suppressed non-renormalisable curvaton potential terms may…

Slow-roll inflation can be studied as an effective field theory. The form of the inflaton potential consistent with the data is V(phi) = N M^4 w(phi/[sqrt{N} M_{Pl}]) where phi is the inflaton field, M is the inflation energy scale, and N ~…

We introduce a simple string model of inflation, in which the inflaton field can take trans-Planckian values while driving a period of slow-roll inflation. This leads naturally to a realisation of large field inflation, inasmuch as the…

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…

We calculate the curvature power spectrum sourced by spectator fields that are excited repeatedly and non-adiabatically during inflation. In the absence of detailed information of the nature of spectator field interactions, we consider an…

The recent Cosmic Microwave Background data from the Planck satellite experiment, when combined with HST determinations of the Hubble constant, are compatible with a larger, non-standard, number of relativistic degrees of freedom at…

In this work, we examine cosmological constraints on models of composite inflation based on the slow-roll approximation by using the recent Planck measurement. We compare the spectral index of curvature perturbation (and its running) and…

We study a variant of the Chromo-Natural Inflation (CNI) mechanism in which the inflaton interacts only gravitationally with the CNI fields. Integrating out all the non-dynamical scalar fields of the model results in a coupling between the…

We study an inflation model with nonminimal derivative coupling that features a coupling between the derivative of the inflaton field and the Einstein tensor. This model naturally amplifies curvature perturbations at small scales via…

We study observational signatures of two classes of anisotropic inflationary models in which an inflaton field couples to (i) a vector kinetic term F_{mu nu}F^{mu nu} and (ii) a two-form kinetic term H_{mu nu lambda}H^{mu nu lambda}. We…

Recently we studied inflation models in which the inflaton potential is characterized by an underlying approximate global symmetry. In the first work we pointed out that in such a model curvature perturbations are generated after the end of…

Inflationary predictions for the power spectrum of the curvature perturbation have been verified to an excellent degree, leaving many models compatible with observations. In this thesis we studied third-order correlations, that might allow…

We consider the mixed inflaton-curvaton scenario in which quantum fluctuations of the curvaton field during inflation lead to a relatively large curvature perturbation spectrum at small scales. We use the model of chaotic inflation with…

We investigate non-Gaussianity in the modulated reheating scenario where fluctuations of the decay rate of the inflaton generate adiabatic perturbations, paying particular attention to the non-linearity parameters $f_{\rm NL}, \tau_{\rm…

We consider a supersymmetric grand unified model which leads to hybrid inflation and solves the strong CP and mu problems via a Peccei-Quinn symmetry, with the Peccei-Quinn field acting as a curvaton generating together with the inflaton…

The \delta N formalism is extended to include the perturbation of the vector field. The latter is quantized in de Sitter space-time and it is found that in general the particle production process of the vector field is anisotropic. This…

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…