Related papers: Cosmological Attractor Models and Higher Curvature…
Fibre inflation is a specific string theory construction based on the Large Volume Scenario that produces an inflationary plateau. We outline its relation to $\alpha$-attractor models for inflation, with the cosmological sector originating…
In this PhD thesis, we investigate generic features of inflation which are strictly related to fundamental aspects of UV-physics scenarios, such as string theory or supergravity. After a short introduction to standard and inflationary…
We expand the generic model involving chiral matter, super Yang-Mills gauge fields, and supergravity to second order in the gravity and gauge prepotentials in a manifestly covariant and conformal way. Such a class of models includes…
We develop four-parameter supergravity models of inflation and dark energy, constrained so that ${\delta\rho\over \rho}$, $n_s$ and the cosmological constant $\Lambda $ take their known observable values, but where the mass of gravitino…
$\alpha$-attractor models naturally appear in supergravity with hyperbolic geometry. The simplest versions of $\alpha$-attractors, T- and E-models, originate from theories with non-singular potentials. In canonical variables, these…
Signatures of heavy particles during inflation are exponentially suppressed by the Boltzmann factor when the masses are far above the Hubble scale. In more realistic scenarios, however, scale-dependent features may change this conventional…
We explore in detail the dynamics of multi-field inflationary models. We first revisit the two-field case and rederive the coordinate independent expression for the attractor solution with either small or large turn rate, emphasizing the…
We investigate the two-stage inflation regime in the theory of hybrid cosmological $\alpha$-attractors. The spectrum of inflationary perturbations is compatible with the latest Planck/BICEP/Keck results, thanks to the attractor properties…
In this paper, we discuss the dynamics of two- scalar-field cosmological models. Unlike in the situation of exponential potential, we find that there are late-time attractors in which one scalar field dominates the energy density of…
In this paper we study some classes of $\alpha$-attractors models in the Jordan frame and we find the corresponding $F(R)$ gravity theory. We study analytically the problem at leading order and we investigate whether the attractor picture…
We study the vacuum structures of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N} = 1$ old minimal supergravity with higher derivative corrections. We find that $\mathcal{N} = 1$ supergravity with Riemann curvature square corrections and higher derivative…
We introduce a new class of models of chaotic inflation inspired by the superconformal approach to supergravity. This class of models allows a functional freedom of choice of the inflaton potential V = |f(\phi)|^2. The simplest model of…
The cosmological curvature perturbation may be generated when some `curvaton' field, different from the inflaton, oscillates in a background of unperturbed radiation. In its simplest form the curvaton paradigm requires the Hubble parameter…
We construct a higher-order gravity model including all corrections up to mass dimension six. Starting from the Jordan frame, we derive the field equations and specialize to the FLRW background, where the dynamics take the form of a…
Models of cosmological inflation resembling the Starobinsky R + R^2 model emerge naturally among the effective potentials derived from no-scale SU(N,1)/SU(N) x U(1) supergravity when N > 1. We display several examples in the SU(2,1)/SU(2) x…
A class of explicitly integrable models of 1+1 dimensional dilaton gravity coupled to scalar fields is described in some detail. The equations of motion of these models reduce to systems of the Liouville equations endowed with energy and…
We extend the idea of conformal attractors in inflation to non-canonical sectors by developing a non-canonical conformally invariant theory from two different approaches. In the first approach, namely, ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity, the…
In our previous work \cite{Feng:2013pba}, we have shown a curvaton model where the curvaton has a nonminimal derivative coupling to gravity. Such a coupling could bring us scale-invariance of the perturbations for wide range constant values…
The cosmological implication of a double inflation model with hybrid + new inflations in supergravity is studied. The hybrid inflation drives an inflaton for new inflation close to the origin through supergravity effects and new inflation…
We revisit and clarify the supersymmetric versions of $R+ R^2$ gravity, in view of the renewed interest to these models in cosmology. We emphasize that the content of the dual standard supergravity theory in the old minimal formulation…