Related papers: Probing the Primordial Universe using Massive Fiel…
The early universe according to the big bang and the grand unified theories is discussed. The shortcomings of big bang are summarized together with their resolution by inflationary cosmology. Inflation, the subsequent oscillation and decay…
Inflationary cosmology has become one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology. Inflation was the first theory within which it was possible to make predictions about the structure of the Universe on large scales, based on causal physics. The…
Inflation has long been the accepted paradigm for understanding the early universe. Most models of inflation have a scalar field acting as the inflaton particle which decays after inflation during a process called reheating into standard…
Calculating the primordial bispectrum predicted by a model of inflation and comparing it to what we see in the sky is very computationally intensive, necessitating layers of approximations and limiting the models which can be constrained.…
While cosmological inflation can erase primordial inhomogeneities, it is possible that inflation may not begin in a significantly inhomogeneous universe. This issue is particularly pressing in multifield scenarios, where even the…
Observational tests during the next decade may determine if the evolution of the Universe can be understood from fundamental physical principles, or if special initial conditions, coincidences, and new, untestable physical laws must be…
High-energy physics often motivates multi-field inflationary scenarios where stochastic effects play a crucial role. Peculiar to multi-field models, the noise-induced centrifugal force results in a longer duration of inflation depending on…
Despite its central role in modern cosmology, doubts are often expressed as to whether cosmological inflation is really a falsifiable theory. We distinguish two facets of inflation, one as a theory of initial conditions for the hot big bang…
Cosmological inflation is not the only early universe scenario consistent with current observational data. I will discuss the criteria for a successful early universe cosmology, compare a couple of the proposed scenarios (inflation,…
We are on the verge of the first precision testing of the inflationary cosmology as a model for the origin of structure in the Universe. I review the key predictions of inflation which can be used as observational tests, in the sense of…
Many inflationary theories introduce new scalar, vector, or tensor degrees of freedom that may then affect the generation of primordial density perturbations. Here we show how to search a galaxy (or 21-cm) survey for the imprint of…
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…
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…
Cosmic inflation is one of the most important paradigms in modern cosmology. In its simplest form, inflation is driven by a single inflaton field. However, multi-field inflation has become increasingly attractive because it can solve many…
The standard model of cosmology is based on the hot Big Bang theory and the inflationary paradigm. Recent precise observations of the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and the matter distribution…
Massive fields during inflation provide an interesting opportunity to test new physics at very high energy scales. Meanwhile in fundamental realizations, the inflationary field space typically has a curved geometry, which may leave…
Inflation is a promising solution to many problems of the standard Big-Bang cosmology. Nevertheless, inflationary models have proved less compelling. In this chapter, we discuss why supersymmetry has led to more natural models of inflation.…
Simple models of single-field inflation in the very early universe can generate the observed amplitude and scale dependence of the primordial density perturbation, but models with multiple fields can provide an equally good fit to current…
The understanding of the primordial mechanism that seeded the cosmic structures we observe today in the sky is one of the major goals in cosmology. The leading paradigm for such a mechanism is provided by the inflationary scenario, a period…
In this article we study closed inflationary universe models by using a tachyonic field theory. We determine and characterize the existence of an universe with $\Omega > 1$, and which describes a period of inflation. We find that considered…