Related papers: Exponential potential for an inflaton with nonmini…
We consider inflation within the context of what is arguably the simplest non-metric extension of Einstein gravity. There non-metricity is described by a single graviscalar field with a non-minimal kinetic coupling to the inflaton field…
In this work we aim to revive the interest for non-minimal derivative coupling theories of gravity, in light of the GW170817 event. These theories include a string motivated non-minimal kinetic term for the scalar field of the form $\sim…
Motivated by the possibility of inflation in the cosmic landscape, which may be approximated by a complicated potential, we study the density perturbations in multi-field inflation with a random potential. The random potential causes the…
Non-abelian discrete gauge symmetries can provide the inflaton with a flat potential even when one takes into account gravitational strength effects. The discreteness of the symmetries also provide special field values where inflation can…
We study the possibility that inflation is driven by a scalar field together with a vector field minimally coupled to gravity. By assuming an effective potential that incorporates both fields into the action, we explore two distinct…
We discuss the phenomenology of the minimal inflation scenario. We concentrate on two aspects: inflationary trajectories and particle production. Our findings can be summarized in two main results: first, that inflationary trayectories that…
The refined de Sitter (dS) conjecture provides two consistency conditions for an effective theory potential of a quantum gravity theory. Any inflationary model can be checked by these conditions and minimal gauge inflation is not an…
We investigate the dynamics of the recently proposed model of assisted inflation. In this model an arbitrary number of scalar fields with exponential potentials evolve towards an inflationary scaling solution, even if each of the individual…
We introduce a novel non-minimal coupling between gravity and the inflaton sector. Remarkably, for large values of this coupling all models asymptote to a universal attractor. This behavior is independent of the original scalar potential…
A new modified string-inspired modular invariant supergravity model is proposed and is applied to realize the slow roll inflation in Einstein frame. Because inflation deals with Planck scale physics, the dilaton can be a strong candidate…
Theories where the Planck scale is dynamically generated from dimensionless interactions provide predictive inflationary potentials and super-Planckian field variations. We first study the minimal single-field realisation in the low-energy…
This thesis presents research exploring aspects of inflation and cosmology in the context of inflation models in which an inflaton is non-minimally coupled to the Ricci scalar, or is considered in conjunction with a term quadratic in the…
Inflation near a maximum of the potential is studied when non-local derivative operators are included in the inflaton Lagrangian. Such terms can impose additional sources of friction on the field. For an arbitrary spacetime geometry, these…
Unimodular gravity is an alternative theory of gravity to general relativity. The gravitational field equations are given by the trace-free version of Einstein's field equations. Due to the structure of the theory, unimodular gravity admits…
We investigate inflation in modified gravity framework by introducing a direct coupling term between a scalar field $\phi$ and the trace of the energy momentum tensor $T$ as $f(\phi,T) = 2 \phi( \kappa^{1/2} \alpha T + \kappa^{5/2} \beta…
The nonminimal coupling of the kinetic term to Einstein's tensor helps the implementation of inflationary models due to the gravitationally enhanced friction. We calculate the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters for the…
We show that without introducing additional fields or extra degrees of freedom, a specific higher derivative extension of Einstein's gravity that has only a massless spin-2 excitation in its perturbative spectrum, has an inflationary…
We propose a class of inflation models with potential V(\phi)=\alpha \phi^n exp(-\beta^m \phi^m). We show that such kind of inflaton potentials can be realized in supergravity theory with a small shift symmetry breaking term in the K\"ahler…
The positive potential energy required for inflation spontaneously breaks supersymmetry and in general gives any would-be inflaton an effective mass of order the inflationary Hubble parameter thus ruling it out as an inflaton. In this paper…
We investigate the inflationary predictions of a simple Horndeski theory where the inflaton scalar field has a non-minimal derivative coupling (NMDC) to the Einstein tensor. The NMDC is very motivated for the construction of successful…