Related papers: Constrained inflaton due to a complex scalar
We study models of inflation where the inflaton corresponds to a flat direction in field space and its mass term is generated by gravity mediated soft supersymmetry breaking at high scale. Assuming the inflaton to have non negligible…
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…
We explore the inflationary phase of a scalar field with a kinetic term non-minimally coupled to gravity. We find that one of the slow-roll conditions is naturally consequence of the equation of motion of the scalar field. Thus, slow-roll…
I discuss folded inflation, an inflationary model embedded in a multi-dimensional scalar potential, such as the stringy landscape. During folded inflation, the field point evolves along a path that turns several corners in the potential.…
We consider inflation with a constant rate of rolling in which a complex scalar field plays the role of inflaton during the inflationary epoch. We implement the inflationary analysis for an accredited angular speed $\dot{\theta}$ which…
In inflationary scenarios with more than one scalar field, inflation may proceed even if each of the individual fields has a potential too steep for that field to sustain inflation on its own. We show that scalar fields with exponential…
Within supersymmetry we provide an example where the inflaton sector is derived from a gauge invariant polynomial of SU(N) or SO(N) gauge theory. Inflation in our model is driven by multi-flat directions, which assist accelerated expansion.…
Trapped inflation is a mechanism in which particle production from the moving inflaton is the main source of friction in the inflaton equation of motion. The produced fields source inflaton perturbations, which dominate over the vacuum…
Usual inflation is realized with a slow rolling scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. In contrast, we consider dynamics of a scalar with a flat effective potential, conformally coupled to gravity. Surprisingly, it contains an attractor…
We revisit models of natural inflation and show that the single-field effective theory described by the potential $V(a)\sim \cos\frac{a}{f}$ breaks down as the inflaton $a$ makes large-field excursions, even for values of $f$ smaller than…
We present an explicit cosmological model where inflation and dark energy both could arise from the dynamics of the same scalar field. We present our discussion in the framework where the inflaton field $\phi$ attains a nearly constant…
We propose an inflationary scenario, M-flation, in which inflation is driven by three $N\times N$ hermitian matrices $\Phi_i, i=1,2,3$. The inflation potential of our model, which is strongly motivated from string theory, is constructed…
A new model of inflation is described. An unusual form for the inflationary potential is obtained because the inflaton corresponds to a non-trivial path in the configuration space of the two real scalar fields of the model. The model…
In this article, we review how strong dynamics can be efficiently employed as a viable alternative to study the mechanism of cosmic inflation. We examine single-field inflation in which the inflaton emerges as a bound state stemming from…
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…
If the cosmological inflationary scenario took place in the cosmic landscape in string theory, the inflaton, the scalar mode responsible for inflation, would have meandered in a complicated multi-dimensional potential. We show that this…
A new family of inflation models is introduced and studied. The models are characterised by a scalar potential which, far from the origin, approaches an inflationary plateau in a power-law manner, while near the origin becomes monomial, as…
Potentials in cosmological inflation often involve scalars with trans-Planckian ranges. As a result, towers of states become massless and their presence pushes the fundamental scale not to coincide with $M_{\rm P}$ but rather with the…
In this note we point out that, contrary to the standard point of view, slow roll inflation is due to high gravitational friction. We show that the requirement of slow roll coincides with the requirement of a flat scalar field potential in…
We study inflation driven by a slow-rolling inflaton field, characterised by a quadratic potential, and incorporating radiative corrections within the context of supergravity. In this model the energy scale of inflation is not overly…