Related papers: Inflation and Alternatives with Blue Tensor Spectr…
Standard inflationary models yield a characteristic signature of a primordial power spectrum with a red tensor and scalar tilt. Nevertheless, Cannone et al recently suggested that, by breaking the assumption of spatial diffeomorphism…
We examine the possibility of positive spectral index of the power spectrum of the primordial tensor perturbation produced during inflation in the light of the detection of the B-mode polarization by the BICEP2 collaboration. We find a blue…
We present a series of theoretical constraints on the potentially viable inflation models that might yield a blue spectrum for primordial tensor perturbations. By performing a detailed dynamical analysis we show that, while there exists…
The BICEP-2 team has reported the detection of primordial cosmic microwave background B-mode polarization, with hints of a suppression of power at large angular scales relative to smaller scales. Provided that the B-mode polarization is due…
A characteristic signature of String Gas Cosmology is primordial power spectra for scalar and tensor modes which are almost scale-invariant but with a red tilt for scalar modes but a blue tilt for tensor modes. This feature, however, can…
Supersolid inflation is a class of inflationary theories that simultaneously breaks time and space reparameterization invariance during inflation, with distinctive features for the dynamics of cosmological fluctuations. We investigate…
A primordial cosmic microwave background B-mode is widely considered a "smoking gun" signature of an early period of inflationary expansion. However, competing theories of the origin of structure, including string gases and bouncing…
Motivated by the string gas cosmological model, which predicts a blue tilt of the primordial gravitational wave spectrum, we examine the constraints imposed by current and planned observations on a blue tilted tensor spectrum. Starting from…
The leading candidate for the very early universe is described by a period of rapid expansion known as inflation. While the standard paradigm invokes a single slow-rolling field, many different models may be constructed which fit the…
We develop a possibility of generating tensor non-Gaussianity in a kind of anisotropic inflation, where a $U(1)$ gauge field is kinetically coupled to a spectator scalar field. Owing to this coupling, the coherent mode of the electric field…
Inflation may have been driven by a component which violated the Null-Energy Condition, thereby leading to {\it super inflation}. We provide the formalism to study cosmological perturbations when such a component is described by a scalar…
A primordial gravitational wave background with positive(blue) spectral index is expected in several non-standard inflationary cosmologies where the stress-energy tensor violates the null energy condition. Here we show that a sizable amount…
We investigate small-scale signatures of the inflationary particle content. We consider the case of a light spin-2 particle sourcing primordial gravitational waves by employing an effective field theory description. Upon allowing…
In arXiv:0908.4089, we have proposed a model where natural inflation is realized on a steep potential as a consequence of the interaction of the inflaton with gauge fields through an axion-like coupling. In the present work we study the…
We study a model of inflation where the scalar perturbations are almost gaussian while there is sizable (equilateral) nongaussianity in the tensor sector. In this model, a rolling pseudoscalar gravitationally coupled to the inflaton…
We extend the method of Flow Equations to the Effective Field Theory framework of inflation, in order to investigate the observable predictions of a very broad class of inflationary models. Focusing our attention on the gravitational-wave…
Inflationary scenarios in string theory often involve a large number of light scalar fields, whose presence can enrich the post-inflationary evolution of primordial fluctuations generated during the inflationary epoch. We provide a simple…
We study non-Gaussianity, the spectral index of primordial scalar fluctuations and tensor modes in models where fluctuations from the inflaton and the curvaton can both contribute to the present cosmic density fluctuations. Even though…
The effect of the initial conditions in inflation on scalar and tensor perturbations is investigated. Formulae for the power spectra of gravitational waves and curvature perturbations for any initial conditions in inflation are derived, and…
Inflation predicts a primordial gravitational wave spectrum that is slightly ``red,'' i.e., nearly scale-invariant with slowly increasing power at longer wavelengths. In this paper, we compute both the amplitude and spectral form of the…