Related papers: Topological inflation from the Starobinsky model i…
We single out the Starobinsky model and its extensions among generic $f(R)$ gravity as attractors at large field values for chaotic inflation. Treating a $R^3$ curvature term as a perturbation of the Starobinsky model, we impose the…
We have presented previously a general treatment of Starobinsky-like inflation in no-scale supergravity where the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r = 3(1 - n_s)^2$, and $n_s$ is the tilt of the scalar perturbations. In particular, we have shown how…
Recent cosmic microwave background observations favor low energy scale inflationary models in a closed universe. However, onset of inflation in such models for a closed universe is known to be severely problematic. In particular, such a…
We study the stability of the electroweak vacuum during and after the Starobinsky inflation, assuming the existence of the non-minimal Higgs coupling to the Ricci scalar. In the Starobinsky inflation, there exists $R^2$ term (with $R$ being…
Higgs inflation and $R^2$-inflation (Starobinsky model) are two limits of the same quantum model, hereafter called Starobinsky-Higgs. We analyse the two-loop action of the Higgs-like scalar $\phi$ in the presence of: 1) non-minimal coupling…
The recent measurements of cosmological parameters by the Planck collaboration favors inflationary models with a redshifted spectrum and a very low tensor-to-scalar ratio. Two well-studied scenarios in the particle physics/string theory…
In this paper we show that certain types of cosmological brane configurations may induce topological inflation. In generic models for topological inflation, there is a strict bound for the potential of the inflaton field. Naively, it seems…
Cosmological inflation is studied in the case where the inflaton is the overall modulus $T$ for an orbifold. General forms of the (non-perturbative) superpotential are considered to ensure that $G=K+{\rm ln}|W|^2$ is modular invariant. We…
We derive the scalar potential in four spacetime dimensions from an eight-dimensional $(R+\gamma R^4-2\Lambda-F_4^2)$ gravity model in the presence of the 4-form $F_4$, with the (modified gravity) coupling constant $\gamma$ and the…
In this work we revisit $\alpha$-Starobinsky inflation, also know as $E$-model, in the light of current CMB and LSS observations. The inflaton potential in the Einstein frame for this model contains a parameter $\alpha$ in the exponential,…
We develop a new class of chaotic inflation models with spontaneously broken conformal invariance. Observational consequences of a broad class of such models are stable with respect to strong deformations of the scalar potential. This…
We consider a power law $\frac{1}{M^2}R^{\beta}$ correction to Einstein gravity as a model of inflation. The interesting feature of this form of generalization is that small deviations from the Starobinsky limit $\beta=2$ can change the…
We analyze various phases of inflation based on the anomaly-induced effective action of gravity (modified Starobinsky model), taking the cosmological constant Lambda and k=0, +/- 1 topologies into account. The total number of the…
We consider an initial condition problem in a nearly quadratic chaotic inflation model in supergravity. We introduce shift symmetry breaking not only in the superpotential but also in the Kahler potential. In this model the inflaton…
Thanks to the Planck Collaboration, we know the value of the scalar spectral index of primordial fluctuations with unprecedented precision. In addition, the joint analysis of the data from Planck, BICEP2, and KEK has further constrained the…
We consider the simplest extension to the Starobinsky model, by allowing an extra scalar field to help drive inflation. We perform our analysis in the Einstein frame and calculate the power spectra at the end of inflation to second order in…
Higher-order theories of gravity are extensions to general relativity (GR) motivated mainly by high-energy physics searching for GR ultraviolet completeness. They are characterized by the inclusion of correction terms in the…
The supersymmetric extension of "Starobinsky" $R+\alpha R^2$ models of inflation is particularly simple in the "new minimal" formalism of supergravity, where the inflaton has no scalar superpartners. This paper is devoted to matter…
In the context of effective theories of gravity, a minimalist bottom-up approach which takes into account $1$-loop quantum corrections leads to modifications in the Einstein-Hilbert action through the inclusion of four extra terms: $R^{2}$,…
We present counter examples to the claim that the $\lambda \phi^4$ inflaton potential is excluded by recent cosmological data. Finding counter examples requires that the actually observed primordial fluctuations are generated at the onset…