Related papers: Classically Scale Invariant Inflation, Supermassiv…
The general structure of Hybrid Inflation remains a very well-motivated mechanism for lower-scale cosmic inflation in the face of improving constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio. However, as originally modeled, the "waterfall" field in…
We propose a strongly coupled supersymmetric gauge theory that can accommodate both the inflation (in the form of generalized hybrid inflation) and dark matter (DM). In this set-up, we identify the DM as the Goldstones associated with the…
Several authors have recently argued that a satisfactory inflationary scenario can be implemented in the Standard Model (SM) by introducing a strong non-minimal coupling of the Higgs doublet to gravity. It is shown here that type I seesaw…
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…
We investigate supersymmetric hybrid inflation in a realistic model based on the gauge symmetry $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$. The minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) $\mu$ term arises, following Dvali, Lazarides, and…
We outline a scenario where both the Higgs and a complex scalar dark matter candidate arise as the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons of breaking a global $SO(7)$ symmetry to $SO(6)$. The novelty of our construction is that the symmetry partners…
This work explores the possibility of inflation in a scale-symmetric extension of the Standard Model Higgs sector, where the Higgs field $\phi_1$ is coupled to a singlet scalar, the dilaton $\phi_0$. The two-scalar theory is formulated…
We propose a minimal extension of the standard model of particle physics to accommodate cosmic inflation, dark matter and light neutrino masses. While the inflationary phase is obtained from a modified chaotic inflation scenario, consistent…
We investigate a scenario of cosmological inflation realised along a flat direction of the minimal seesaw model embedded in supergravity with a noncanonical R-parity violating K\"{a}hler potential. It is shown that with appropriate seesaw…
Motivated by natural inflation, we propose a relaxation mechanism consistent with inflationary cosmology that explains the hierarchy between the electroweak scale and Planck scale. This scenario is based on a selection mechanism that…
A new shifted hybrid inflationary scenario is introduced which, in contrast to the older one, relies only on renormalizable superpotential terms. This scenario is automatically realized in a concrete extension of the "minimal"…
We show that Supersymmetric models with Type I seesaw neutrino masses support slow roll inflection point inflation. The inflaton is the D-flat direction labelled by the chiral invariant HLN composed of the Higgs(H), slepton(L) and conjugate…
This thesis presents research exploring aspects of inflation and cosmology in the context of inflation models in which an inflaton is non-minimally coupled to the Ricci scalar, or is considered in conjunction with a term quadratic in the…
We consider the introduction of a complex scalar field carrying a global lepton number charge to the Standard Model and the Higgs inflation framework. The conditions are investigated under which this model can simultaneously ensure Higgs…
Natural inflation is a well-motivated model for the early universe in which an inflaton potential of the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone form, $V(\phi) = \Lambda^4[1 + \cos{(\phi/f)}]$, can naturally drive a cosmic accelerated epoch. This paper…
The hybrid metric-Palatini theory of gravity (HMPG), proposed in 2012 by T. Harko et al., is known to successfully describe both local (solar-system) and cosmological observations. We discuss static, spherically symmetric vacuum solutions…
Recent measurements from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) have placed the strictest constraints on the primordial scalar perturbation spectrum, reporting a spectral index of $n_s\sim0.967-0.98$ at 95%…
We provide an update on five relatively well motivated inflationary models in which the inflaton is a Standard Model singlet scalar field. These include i) the textbook quadratic and quartic potential models but with additional couplings of…
We present a mechanism that addresses the electroweak, the strong CP, and the flavor hierarchies of the Standard Model (including neutrino masses) in a unified way. The naturalness of the electroweak scale is solved together with the strong…
We propose a cosmological inflationary scenario based on the supergravity-embedded Standard Model supplemented by the right-handed neutrinos. We show that with an appropriate Kahler potential the L-H_u direction gives rise to successful…