Related papers: Chaotic inflation limits for non-minimal models wi…
We propose a new class of inflationary attractors in metric-affine gravity. Such class features a non-minimal coupling $\tilde\xi \, \Omega(\phi)$ with the Holst invariant $\tilde{\cal R}$ and an inflaton potential proportional to…
We generalise Starobinsky's model of inflation to space-times with $D>4$ dimensions, where $D-4$ dimensions are compactified on a suitable manifold. The $D$-dimensional action features Einstein-Hilbert gravity, a higher-order curvature…
We explore two saddle point inflationary scenarios in the context of higher order corrections related to different generalisations of general relativity. Firstly, we deal with Jordan frame Starobinsky potential, for which we identify a…
Attractor inflation is a particularly robust framework for developing inflationary models that are insensitive to the details of the potential. Such models are most often considered in the metric formulation of gravity. However, non-minimal…
We study models of inflation where the scalar field $\phi$ that drives inflation is coupled non-minimally to gravity via $\xi \phi^2 R$, or where the gravity sector is enlarged by an $R^2$ term. We consider the original Higgs inflation,…
We consider slow-roll inflation in the context of recently proposed four-dimensional effective gravity induced on the world-volume of a three-brane in five-dimensional Einstein gravity. We find significant modifications of the simplest…
We investigate the inflationary attractors in models of inflation inspired from general conformal transformation of general scalar-tensor theories to the Einstein frame. The coefficient of the conformal transformation in our study depends…
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…
We investigate chaotic inflation models with two scalar fields, such that one field (the inflaton) rolls while the other is trapped in a false vacuum state. The false vacuum becomes unstable when the inflaton field falls below some critical…
In the context of dynamical breaking of local supersymmetry (supergravity), including the Deser-Zumino super-Higgs effect, for the simple but quite representative cases of N=1, D=4 supergravity, we discuss the emergence of Starobinsky-type…
In order to draw out the essential behavior of the universe, investigations of early universe cosmology often reduce the complex system to a simple integrable system. Inflationary models are of this kind as they focus on simple scalar field…
We discuss how the higher-derivative Starobinsky model of inflation originates from N=1 supergravity. It is known that, in the old-minimal supergravity description written by employing a chiral compensator in the superconformal framework,…
This paper investigates Starobinsky's model of inflation driven by the trace anomaly of conformally coupled matter fields. This model does not suffer from the problem of contrived initial conditions that occurs in most models of inflation…
We examine some inflationary models based on modifications of gravity in the light of Planck 2015 data, such as the generalised Chaplygin inspired inflation, models based in $N=1$ supergravity and braneworld scenarios. We also show that,…
We emphasize the importance of effects from heavy fields on supergravity models of inflation. We study, in particular, the backreaction of stabilizer fields and geometric moduli in the presence of supersymmetry breaking. Many effects do not…
We study a model of inflation in which a scalar field $\chi$ is non-minimally coupled to Starobinsky's $R^2$ gravity. After transforming it to the Einstein frame, a new scalar field, the scalaron $\phi$, will appear and couple to $\chi$…
We describe a broad class of multi-field inflationary models with spontaneously broken conformal invariance. It generalizes the recently discovered class of cosmological attractors with a single inflaton field. In the new multi-field…
We investigate a standard minimally-coupled scalar-field inflationary scenario, which is based on a new potential, with suitably generalized plateau features, that leads to extra small tensor-to-scalar ratios. In particular, we consider a…
We investigate the effects of large inhomogeneities in both the inflaton field and its momentum. We find that in general, large kinetic perturbations reduce the number of e-folds of inflation. In particular, we observe that inflationary…
The BICEP2 observation of a large tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r = 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$, implies that the inflaton $\phi$ in single-field inflation models must satisfy $\phi \sim 10M_{Pl}$ in order to produce sufficient inflation. This is a…