Related papers: Curvaton with Nonminimal Derivative Coupling to Gr…
Primordial non-Gaussianity signatures of extremely heavy particles are re-examined within a simple alternative to the standard inflationary paradigm, in which the primordial fluctuations and the inflationary spacetime expansion are sourced…
We investigate the scale-dependence, or the runnings, of linear and second order density perturbations generated in various curvaton scenarios. We argue that the second order perturbations, i.e. non-Gaussianity, can strongly depend on the…
A new model realisation of the vector curvaton paradigm is presented and analysed. The model consists of a single massive Abelian vector field, with a Maxwell type kinetic term. By assuming that the kinetic function and the mass of the…
We study a ghost-free model of massive vector curvaton proposed in the literature, where the quick decrease of the vector background expectation value is avoided by a suitable choice of kinetic and mass functions. The curvaton perturbations…
We perform a combined perturbation and observational investigation of the scenario of non-minimal derivative coupling between a scalar field and curvature. First we extract the necessary condition that ensures the absence of instabilities,…
A recent proposal for gauge-invariant observables in inflation [R. Brunetti et al., JHEP 1608 (2016) 032] is examined. We give a generalisation of their construction to general background spacetimes. In flat space, we calculate one-loop…
Cosmological correlation functions of inflaton and graviton perturbations are the fundamental observables of early universe cosmology and remain a primary target for observations. In this work, we ask the following question: are these…
We discuss how primordial non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbation helps to constrain models of the early universe. Observations are consistent with Gaussian initial conditions, compatible with the predictions of the simplest models of…
In this proceeding, we review modified theories of gravity with a curvature-matter coupling between an arbitrary function of the scalar curvature and the Lagrangian density of matter. This explicit nonminimal coupling induces a…
We characterise the primordial perturbations produced due to both inflaton and curvaton fluctuations in models where the curvaton has a quadratic, cosine or hyperbolic potential, and the inflaton potential is characterised by the usual…
This paper presents the first derivation of the quadratic action for curvature perturbations, $\zeta$, within the framework of cuscuton gravity. We study the scalar cosmological perturbations sourced by a canonical single scalar field in…
In this work, we review a plethora of modified theories of gravity with generalized curvature-matter couplings. The explicit nonminimal couplings, for instance, between an arbitrary function of the scalar curvature $R$ and the Lagrangian…
In curvaton-type models, observable non-gaussianity of the curvature perturbation would come from a contribution of the form $(\delta\sigma)^2$, where $\delta\sigma$ is gaussian. I analyse this situation allowing $\delta\sigma$ to be…
We calculate the lowest-order non-linear contributions to the power spectrum, two-point correlation function, and smoothed variance of the density field, for Gaussian initial conditions and scale-free initial power spectra, $P(k) \sim k^n$.…
We use the delta N -formalism to investigate the non-Gaussianity of the primordial curvature perturbation in the curvaton scenario for the origin of structure. We numerically calculate the full probability distribution function allowing for…
We study inflationary scenarios driven by a scalar field in the presence of a non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature. We show that the Friedmann equation can be significantly modified when the energy density during inflation…
Gravitational waves in the presence of a non-minimal curvature-matter coupling are analysed, both in the Newman-Penrose and perturbation theory formalisms. Considering a cosmological constant as a source, the non-minimally coupled…
We investigate the phase diagram of quantum gravity with a vertex expansion about constantly-curved backgrounds. The graviton two- and three-point function are evaluated with a spectral sum on a sphere. We obtain, for the first time,…
We study the axion-type curvaton model, with emphasis on the large field regime where analytic results are very difficult to obtain. We evaluate the tensor-scalar ratio $r$ using WMAP normalization and the non-linearity parameters $f_{NL}$…
Quantum gravity coupled to scalar massive matter fields is investigated within the framework of causal perturbation theory. One-loop calculations include matter loop graviton self-energy and matter self-energy and yield ultraviolet finite…