Related papers: Planck, LHC, and $\alpha$-attractors
We present a model based on the idea that Planck-scale effects may produce a small explicit breaking of global symmetries. The model contains a new complex scalar field $\Psi$, charged under a certain global U(1) symmetry, interacting with…
In this paper we argue that it is possible to model the Universe along thermodynamic lines, using oscillators in the background Dark Energy at the Planck scale. This leads to meaningful results in agreement with observation.
We introduce a new family of cosmological attractors with non-minimal coupling of gravity and non-canonical kinetic terms. In the Einstein frame, these models transform into a class of exponential and polynomial attractors with the spectral…
We go a step further in the search for a consistent and realistic supergravity model of large-field inflation by building a class of models with the following features: during slow-roll, all the scalar fields other than the inflaton are…
In the framework of scalar-tensor theories of gravity, we construct a new kind of cosmological model that conflates inflation and ekpyrosis. During a phase of conflation, the universe undergoes accelerated expansion, but with crucial…
We consider general linear Higgs-sigma models as ultra-violet completions of the Higgs inflation. We introduce general higher curvature terms beyond Einstein gravity and recast them into a class of linear Higgs-sigma models in the…
We show that a single uncharged chiral superfield, canonically coupled to \mbox{$N=1$} supergravity with vanishing superpotential, naturally drives inflation in the early universe for a class of simple Kahler potentials. Inflation occurs…
We consider models of chaotic inflation driven by the real parts of a conjugate pair of Higgs superfields involved in the spontaneous breaking of a grand unification symmetry at a scale assuming its supersymmetric value. Employing quadratic…
We show that if the $\alpha$-attractor model is realized by the spontaneous breaking of the scale symmetry, then the stability and the dynamics of the vector field that gauges the scale symmetry can severely constrain the $\alpha$-parameter…
The $\alpha$-attractor inflationary models are nowadays favored by CMB Planck observations. Their similarity with canonical quintessence models motivates the exploration of a common framework that explains both inflation and dark energy. We…
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…
After a brief summary of general relativity and cosmology, we present the basic concepts underlying inflation, the currently best motivated models for the early Universe. We describe the simplest inflation models, based on a single scalar…
We present a class of supergravity $\alpha$-attractors with an approximate global U(1) symmetry corresponding to the axion direction. We also develop a multi-field generalization of these models and show that the $\alpha$-attractor models…
We propose a large class of supergravity models in terms of a single chiral matter superfield, leading to (almost) arbitrary single-field inflationary scalar potentials similar to the F-term in rigid supersymmetry. Those scalar potentials…
Results of a general study on the dynamics of cosmological scalar fields with arbitrary potentials are presented. Exact and approximate attractor solutions are found, with applications to quintessence, moduli stabilization and inflation.
We propose a minimal model framework for physics below the Planck scale with the following features: (i) it is based on no-scale supergravity, as favoured in many string compactifications, (ii) it incorporates Starobinsky-like inflation,…
We consider cosmological inflation generated by a scalar field slowly rolling off from a de Sitter maximum of its potential. The models belong to the class of hilltop models and represent the most general model of this kind in which the…
We investigate the cosmological inflation in a class of supergravity models that are generalizations of non-supersymmetric $R^2$ models. Although such models have been extensively studied recently, especially after the launch of the PLANCK…
Cosmological $\alpha$-attractors are a compelling class of inflationary models. They lead to universal predictions for large-scale observables, broadly independent from the functional form of the inflaton potential. In this work we derive…
This is a very comprehensible review of some key issues in Modern Cosmology. Simple mathematical examples and analogies are always used, whenever available. The starting point is the well know Big Bang Cosmology (BBC). We deal with the…