Related papers: On Natural Inflation and Moduli Stabilisation in S…
We discuss string corrections to the effective potential in various models of brane inflation. These corrections contribute to the mass of the inflaton candidate and may improve its slow-roll properties. In particular, in orientifold string…
We show that a pair of field theory monodromies in which the shift symmetry is broken by small, well motivated deformations, naturally incorporates a mechanism for cancelling off radiative corrections to the cosmological constant. The…
Inflationary scenarios in string theory often involve a large number of light scalar fields, whose presence can enrich the post-inflationary evolution of primordial fluctuations generated during the inflationary epoch. We provide a simple…
We study a possible origin of the anomalous suppression of the power spectrum at large angular scales in the cosmic microwave background within the framework of explicit string inflationary models where inflation is driven by a closed…
In this work, we present two classes of inflationary models in the framework of type IIB string theory. The inflatons correspond to blow-up K\"ahler modulus arising from compactifying type IIB string theory on a Calabi-Yau. Using…
We present a perspective on the inflation paths in 2-, 3-,,, N-flation models based on the ultraviolet completion in heterotic string theory, where a number of grand unification scale axions are used. The number of non-Abelian gauge groups…
In this thesis we study compactifications of type II string theories and M-theory to four dimensions. We construct the four-dimensional N=2 supergravities that arise from compactifications of type IIA string theory and M-theory on manifolds…
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…
We propose heavy axions as a natural superheavy dark matter candidate in string theory, with the relic density of dark matter originating in quantum fluctuations during cosmic inflation. String Theory is well known for the possibility of…
We quantitatively estimate the leading higher derivative corrections to ${\mathcal{N}}=1$ supergravity derived from IIB string compactifications and study how they may affect moduli stabilisation and LVS inflation models. Using the…
We revisit some questions in supersymmetric hybrid inflation (SHI). We analyze the amount of fine tuning required in various models, the problem of decay at the end of inflation and the generation of baryons after inflation. We find that…
Starobinsky inflation is currently one of the best models concerning agreement with cosmological data. Despite this observational success, it is still lacking a robust embedding into a UV complete theory. Previous efforts to derive…
We consider the generation of large-scale magnetic fields in slow-roll inflation. The inflaton field is described in a supergravity framework where the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic field is generically and naturally broken.…
Higher-order alpha'-corrections are a generic feature of type IIB string compactifications. In KKLT-like models of moduli stabilization they provide a mechanism of breaking the no-scale structure of the volume modulus. We present a model of…
It has recently been appreciated that the conifold modulus plays an important role in string-phenomenological set-ups involving warped throats, both by imposing constraints on model building and for obtaining a 10-dimensional picture of…
Warm natural inflation is studied for the case of the original cosine potential. The radiation bath during inflation induces a dissipation (friction) rate in the equation of motion for the inflaton field, which can potentially reduce the…
Slow-roll inflation requires the inflaton field to have an exceptionally flat potential, which combined with measurements of the scale of inflation demands some degree of fine-tuning. Alternatively, the flatness of the potential could be…
This is a short review of string cosmology. We wish to connect string-scale physics as closely as possible to observables accessible to current or near-future experiments. Our possible best hope to do so is a description of inflation in…
We present an overview of inflationary models derived from string theory focusing mostly on closed string moduli as inflatons. After a detailed discussion of the eta-problem and different approaches to address it, we describe possible ways…
We study pseudoscalar inflation in the Einstein-Cartan-Palatini (first-order) formulation of gravity while allowing for torsion. We introduce two non-minimal interactions in the gravitational sector: pseudoscalar couplings to the Pontryagin…