Related papers: Helical Inflation and Cosmic Strings

This thesis is dedicated to the study of inflationary scenarios based on string theory. Inflation is a brief period of accelerated expansion in the very early Universe which gives natural explanations for problems of the Standard Big Bang…

We consider gravitational wave production during inflation in type IIB string theory, and the possibility of observable gravitational waves in small field inflation. We show that the gauge field excitations on a set of coincident D7 branes,…

Certain inflationary models can feature periods of preheating - an era preceding reheating during which parametric resonance triggers an exponential production of bosons. This non-perturbative process can have significant impact on the…

We study the primordial non-Gaussinity predicted from simple models of inflation with a linear potential and superimposed oscillations. This generic form of the potential is predicted by the axion monodromy inflation model, that has…

We study effects of the cosmic string in the D-term inflation model on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. In the D-term inflation model, gauged cosmic string is usually formed, which may significantly affect the CMB…

Recent detection of $B$-mode polarization induced from tensor perturbations by the BICEP2 experiment implies so-called large field inflation, where an inflaton field takes super-Planckian expectation value during inflation, at a high energy…

Non-supersymmetric brane world scenarios in string theory display perturbative instabilities that usually involve run-away potentials for scalar moduli fields. We investigate in the framework of intersecting brane worlds whether the leading…

It has been recently pointed out that the polarization BICEP2 results are consistent with the identification of an inflaton mass m \simeq 10^{13} GeV with the SUSY breaking scale in an MSSM with a fine-tuned SM Higgs. This identification…

We derive an $\alpha=1/3$ - attractor potential of slow-roll inflation in the geometric set-up of three intersecting $D7$ branes under $T^6/Z_N$ type of $CY_3$-compactification within type IIB/F theory with some near-conifold regions. The…

At its very beginning, the universe is believed to have grown exponentially in size via the mechanism of inflation. The almost scale-invariant density perturbation spectrum predicted by inflation is strongly supported by cosmological…

We have built a supersymmetric SO(10) model consistent with cosmological observations. The model gives rise to a false vacuum hybrid inflationary scenario which solves the monopole problem. We argue that this type of inflationary scenario…

We provide a pedagogical overview of inflation in string theory. Our theme is the sensitivity of inflation to Planck-scale physics, which we argue provides both the primary motivation and the central theoretical challenge for the subject.…

Natural (axionic) inflation can accommodate sizeable primordial tensor modes but suffers from the necessity of trans-Planckian variations of the inflaton field. This problem can be solved via the mechanism of aligned axions…

We obtain cosmological constraints on models of inflation which exhibit rapid roll solutions. Rapid roll attractors exist for potentials with large mass terms and are thus of interest for inflationary model building within string theory. We…

Incorporating the QCD axion and simultaneously satisfying current constraints on the dark matter density and isocurvature fluctuations requires non-minimal fine-tuning of inflationary parameters or the axion misalignment angle (or both) for…

Low energy string theory predicts the existence of an axion field which can lead to cosmic birefringence. We solve the electromagnetic wave equations in the presence of such an axion and a dilaton field in order to determine their effect on…

We propose a landscape of many axions, where the axion potential receives various contributions from shift symmetry breaking effects. We show that the existence of the axion with a super-Planckian decay constant is very common in the axion…

We consider cosmological consequences of string theory tachyon condensation. We show that it is very difficult to obtain inflation in the simplest versions of this theory. Typically, inflation in these theories could occur only at…

In this talk, I shall focus on theories beyond the Standard Model which predict massive neutrinos. Hybrid inflation emerges naturally in these theories: the slow-rolling inflaton field is a gauge singlet which couples with a GUT Higgs field…

Brane inflation in superstring theory predicts that cosmic strings (but not domain walls or monopoles) are produced towards the end of the inflationary epoch. Here, we discuss the production, the spectrum and the evolution of such cosmic…