Related papers: $\phi^2$ or Not $\phi^2$: Testing the Simplest Inf…
We consider a quantum corrected inflation scenario driven by a generic GUT or Standard Model type particle model whose scalar field playing the role of an inflaton has a strong non-minimal coupling to gravity. We show that currently widely…
We study DBI inflation based upon a general model characterized by a power-law flow parameter $\epsilon(\phi)\propto\phi^{\alpha}$ and speed of sound $c_s(\phi)\propto\phi^{\beta}$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are constants. We show that in…
Two different predictions for the primordial curvature fluctuation bispectrum are compared through their effects on the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature fluctuations. The first has a local form described by a single parameter f_{NL}.…
If a coupling between the inflaton and the Gauss-Bonnet term is introduced, many models of inflation that were ruled out by the most recent Planck data can be made viable again. The predictions for the scalar spectral index and…
We elaborate on a minimal inflation scenario based entirely on the general properties of supersymmetry breaking in supergravity models. We identify the inflaton as the scalar component of the Goldstino superfield. We write plausible…
We present an inflationary universe model which utilizes two coupled real scalar fields. The inflation field $\phi$ experiences a first order phase transition and its potential dominates the energy density of the Universe during the…
In this thesis we will primarily demonstrate how additional scalar degrees of freedom - which are motivated from many high-energy embeddings - open up new observational windows onto the physics of inflation. We construct a Bayesian…
A new model of inflation is described. An unusual form for the inflationary potential is obtained because the inflaton corresponds to a non-trivial path in the configuration space of the two real scalar fields of the model. The model…
We address the issue of how many $e$-folds we would naturally expect if inflation occurred at an energy scale of order $10^{16}$ GeV. We use the canonical measure on trajectories in classical phase space, specialized to the case of flat…
Analyses of inflation models are usually conducted assuming a specific range---e.g., $N_k \simeq 50-60$--of the number $N_k$ of $e$-folds of inflation. However, the analysis can also be performed by taking into account constraints imposed…
We have recently suggested [1,2] that Inflation could have started in a local minimum of the Higgs potential at field values of about $10^{15}-10^{17}$ GeV, which exists for a narrow band of values of the top quark and Higgs masses and thus…
In this work, we study inflation with the non-minimally coupled quadratic, Standard Model (SM) Higgs and hilltop potentials through $\xi \phi^2R$ term in the Palatini gravity. We first analyze observational parameters of Palatini quadratic…
Single field inflationary models are investigated within Palatini quadratic gravity represented by $R+\alpha R^2$ along with a non-minimal coupling of the form $f(\phi) R$ between the inflaton field $\phi$ and the gravity. The treatment is…
For a narrow band of values of the top quark and Higgs boson masses, the Standard Model Higgs potential develops a false minimum at energies of about $10^{16}$ GeV, where primordial Inflation could have started in a cold metastable state. A…
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…
We consider an inflationary scenario where the rate of inflaton roll defined by $\ddot\phi/H\dot \phi$ remains constant. The rate of roll is small for slow-roll inflation, while a generic rate of roll leads to the interesting case of…
In many models of inflation, reheating is realized through a coupling between the inflaton and the Higgs boson. Often, the mass of the inflaton is of order $10^{13}~$GeV determined by the amplitude of the scalar fluctuation spectrum.…
We consider non-minimal \lambda \phi^4 inflation in a gauged non-supersymmetric U(1)_{B-L} model containing the gravitational coupling \xi \mathcal{R} \Phi^\dagger \Phi, where \mathcal{R} denotes the Ricci scalar and the standard model…
At high e-foldings of expansion, the inflation with the quartic potential exhibits the parametric attractor governed by the slowly running Hubble rate. This quasiattractor simplifies the analysis of predictions for the inhomogeneity…
We consider inflation within a model framework where the Higgs boson arises as a pseudo-Goldstone boson associated with the breaking of a global symmetry at a scale significantly larger than the electroweak one. We show that in such a model…