Related papers: Bounds on non-adiabatic evolution in single-field …
We describe models of single-field inflation with small and sharp step features in the potential (and sound speed) of the inflaton field, in the context of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation. This approach allows us to study the…
We study the generation of local non-Gaussianity in models of canonical single field inflation when their backgrounds are either attractor or non-attractor. We show that the invariance of inflation under space-time diffeomorphisms can be…
Heavy fields coupled to the inflaton reduce the speed of sound in the effective theory of the adiabatic mode each time the background inflationary trajectory deviates from a geodesic. This can result in features in the primordial spectra.…
The bispectrum of single-field inflationary trajectories in which the speed of sound of the inflationary trajectories $c_s$ is constant but not equal to the speed of light $c=1$ is explored. The trajectories are generated as random…
Non-attractor models of inflation are characterized by the super-horizon evolution of curvature perturbations, introducing a violation of the non-Gaussian consistency relation between the bispectrum's squeezed limit and the power spectrum's…
We study Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflation models with multiple scalar fields. We show that the adiabatic and entropy modes propagate with a common effective sound speed and are thus amplified at the sound horizon crossing. In the small…
In this paper, we present a non-Gaussianity consistency relation that enables the calculation of the squeezed limit bispectrum of the curvature perturbation in single-field inflationary models by carefully inspecting the background…
If the expansion of the early Universe was not close to de Sitter, the statistical imprints of the primordial density perturbation on the cosmic microwave background can be quite different from those derived in slow-roll inflation. In this…
We study the effects of the non-attractor initial conditions for the canonical single-field inflation. The non-attractor stage can last only several $e$-folding numbers, and should be followed by hilltop inflation. This two-stage evolution…
In non-attractor single-field inflation models producing a scale-invariant power spectrum, the curvature perturbation on super-horizon scales grows as ${\cal R}\propto a^3$. This is so far the only known class of self-consistent…
We discuss metric perturbations produced during a period of inflation in the early universe where two scalar fields evolve. The final scalar perturbation spectrum can be calculated in terms of the perturbed expansion along neighbouring…
We calculate the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ in a class of recently proposed two-field no-scale inflationary models in supergravity. We show that, in order to obtain correct predictions, it is crucial to…
For a single scalar field with unit sound speed minimally coupled to Einstein gravity, there are exactly three distinct cosmological solutions which produce a scale invariant spectrum of curvature perturbations in a dynamical attractor…
We discuss and clarify the validity of effective single field theories of inflation obtained by integrating out heavy degrees of freedom in the regime where adiabatic perturbations propagate with a suppressed speed of sound. We show by…
We study inflationary perturbations in multiple-field models, for which zeta typically evolves until all isocurvature modes decay--the "adiabatic limit". We use numerical methods to explore the sensitivity of the nonlinear parameter fNL to…
In this letter we study adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations in the frame of inflation with multiple sound speeds involved. We suggest this scenario can be realized by a number of generalized scalar fields with arbitrary kinetic forms.…
We examine the conditions under which a perturbative expansion around an inflating background is valid. When inflation is driven by a single field with a general sound speed, we find a lower limit on the sound speed related to the amplitude…
A characteristic of D-brane inflation is that fluctuations in the inflaton field can propagate at a speed significantly less than the speed of light. This yields observable effects that are distinct from those of single-field slow roll…
We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we…
Curvature perturbations with short wavelengths exit the Hubble horizon when the universe may contain a thermal plasma in addition to an inflaton field that drives its expansion. We solve the corresponding fluctuation-dissipation dynamics at…