Related papers: On Axionic Field Ranges, Loopholes and the Weak Gr…
We discuss the set of constraints for Einstein-aether theories, comparing the flat background case with what is expected when the gravitational fields are dynamic. We note potential pathologies occurring in the weak gravitational field…
We apply the criterion of finite naturalness to the limiting case of a generic heavy sector decoupled from the Standard Model. The sole and unavoidable exception to this decoupling arises from gravitational interactions. We demonstrate that…
We point out three correlated predictions of the axion monodromy inflation model: large amplitude of gravitational waves, suppression of power on horizon scales and on scales relevant for the formation of dwarf galaxies. While these…
We review conceptual aspects of inflationary scenarios able to produce primordial black holes, by amplifying the size of curvature fluctuations to the level required for triggering black hole formation. We identify general mechanisms to do…
We study minimal versions of Higgs inflation in the presence of a massless QCD axion. While the inflationary energy scale of the metric variant is too high to accommodate isocurvature bounds, it was argued that Palatini Higgs inflation…
We consider a model of modified gravity from the nonperturbative quantization of a metric. We obtain the modified gravitational field equations and the modified conservational equations. We apply it to the FLRW spacetime and find that due…
We investigate cosmological solutions for the modified gravity theory obtained from quantum relative entropy between the metric of spacetime and the metric induced by the geometry and matter fields. The vacuum equations admit inflationary…
We compare the standard single scalar field inflationary predictions with those of an inflationary phase driven by a tachyon field. A slow-roll formalism is defined for tachyon inflation, and we derive the spectra of scalar and tensor…
Modified gravity theories are supposed to incorporate low-energy quantum-gravity effects and, at the same time, they could shed light into the dark matter and dark energy problems. Here we study a particular modification of general…
Chromo-natural inflation is a novel model of inflation which relies on the existence of non-abelian gauge fields interacting with an axion. In its simplest realization, an SU(2) gauge field is assumed to begin inflation in a rotationally…
We study the cosmology of complex multi-axion theories. With O(100) fields and GUT scale energies these theories contain a vast number of vacua, inflationary trajectories and a natural dark matter candidate. We demonstrate that the vacua…
It is widely believed and in part established that exact global symmetries are inconsistent with quantum gravity. One then expects that approximate global symmetries can be quantitatively constrained by quantum gravity or swampland…
Models of axion inflation based on a single cosine potential require the axion decay constant $f$ to be super-Planckian in size. However, $f > M_{Pl}$ is disfavored by the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC). It is then pertinent to ask if one…
Quantum gravity, as a fundamental theory of space-time, is expected to reveal how the universe may have started, perhaps during or before an inflationary epoch. It may then leave a potentially observable (but probably minuscule) trace in…
Constraints on the required flatness of the scalar potential $V(\phi)$ for a cousin-model to extended inflation are studied. It is shown that, unlike earlier results, Induced-gravity Inflation can lead to successful inflation with a very…
In this paper, we consider a model of tachyon with a non-minimal coupling to gravity and study its cosmological effects. Regarding inflation we will show that for a specific coupling of tachyon to gravity this model satisfies observations…
Slow-roll inflation is a successful paradigm. However we find that even a small coupling of the inflaton to other light fields can dramatically alter the dynamics and predictions of inflation. As an example, the inflaton can generically…
The inflationary paradigm has enjoyed phenomenological success, however, a compelling particle physics realization is still lacking. The key obstruction is that the requirement of a suitably flat scalar potential is sensitive to…
If the inflaton is a pseudo-scalar axion, the axion shift symmetry can protect the flatness of its potential from too large radiative corrections. This possibility, known as natural inflation, requires an axion scale which is greater than…
In Chain Inflation the universe tunnels along a series of false vacua of ever-decreasing energy. The main goal of this paper is to embed Chain Inflation in high energy fundamental physics. We begin by illustrating a simple effective…