Related papers: No-Scale Inflation
Models of inflation are instructive playgrounds for supersymmetry breaking in Supergravity and String Theory. In particular, combinations of branes and orientifolds that are not mutually BPS can lead to \emph{brane supersymmetry breaking},…
The magnitude of primordial tensor perturbations reported by the BICEP2 experiment is consistent with simple models of chaotic inflation driven by a single scalar field with a power-law potential \propto \phi^n: n \simeq 2, in contrast to…
The generic embedding of the $R+R^2$ higher curvature theory into old-minimal supergravity leads to models with rich vacuum structure in addition to its well-known inflationary properties. When the model enjoys an exact R-symmetry, there is…
The large-scale structure of the universe suggests that the physics underlying its early evolution is scale-free. This was the historic motivation for the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles spectrum and for inflation. Based on a hydrodynamical…
We present a novel theory of the very early universe which addresses the traditional horizon and flatness problems of big bang cosmology and predicts a scale invariant spectrum of perturbations. Unlike inflation, this scenario requires no…
Inflation with plateau potentials give the best fit to the CMB observables as they predict tensor to scalar ratio stringently bounded by the observations from Planck and BICEP2/Keck. In supergravity models it is possible to obtain plateau…
A novel approach to quintessential inflation model building is studied, within the framework of $\alpha$-attractors, motivated by supergravity theories. Inflationary observables are in excellent agreement with the latest CMB observations,…
This article presents a possible inflation scenario as a consequence of non-minimal gravitational couplings in the Conformal Standard Model. The model consists, in comparison to the SM, of additional right-chiral neutrinos and complex…
We develop an inflationary model without small parameters on the basis of multidimensional $f(R)$ gravity with a minimally coupled scalar field. The model is described by two stages of space expansion. The first one begins at energy scales…
We show that embedding Natural Inflation in a more general scalar-tensor theory, with non-minimal couplings to the Ricci scalar and the kinetic term, alleviates the current tension of Natural Inflation with observational data. The coupling…
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 study a single fluid component in a flat like universe (FLU) governed by $f(T)$ gravity theories, where $T$ is the teleparallel torsion scalar. The FLU model, regardless the value of the spatial curvature $k$, identifies a special class…
We present a model of inflation in a supergravity framework in the Einstein frame where the Higgs field of the next to minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) plays the role of the inflaton. Previous attempts which assumed non-minimal…
I elaborate on a link between the string--scale breaking of supersymmetry that occurs in a class of superstring models and the onset of inflation. The link rests on spatially flat cosmologies supported by a scalar field driven by an…
We investigate models in which the inflaton emerges as a composite field of a four dimensional, strongly interacting and nonsupersymmetric gauge theory featuring purely fermionic matter. We show that it is possible to obtain successful…
We study the primordial non-Gaussinity predicted from simple models of inflation with a linear potential and superimposed oscillations. This generic form of the potential is predicted by the axion monodromy inflation model, that has…
The original Starobinsky $R + R^2$ model of inflation is consistent with Planck and other measurements of the CMB, but recent results from the ACT and SPT Collaborations hint that the tilt of scalar perturbations may be in tension with the…
We point out some of the outstanding challenges for embedding inflationary cosmology within string theory studying the process of reheating for models where the inflaton is a closed string mode parameterising the size of an internal cycle…
The idea of gauge theories of gravity predicts that there should exist not only the massless graviton but also massive particles carrying the gravitational force. We study the cosmology in a quadratic gravity with dynamical torsion where…
We generalise Einstein's formulation of the traceless Einstein equations to $f(R)$ gravity theories. In the case of the vacuum traceless Einstein equations, we show that a non-constant Weyl tensor leads via a conformal transformation to a…