Related papers: Effective models of inflation from a non-local fra…
Non-abelian discrete gauge symmetries can provide the inflaton with a flat potential even when one takes into account gravitational strength effects. The discreteness of the symmetries also provide special field values where inflation can…
We use cosmic microwave background and large scale structure data to test a broad and physically well-motivated class of inflationary models: those with flat tree-level potentials (typical in supersymmetry). The non-trivial features of the…
We present here the effective theory of inflation `a la Ginsburg-Landau in which the inflaton potential is a polynomial. The slow-roll expansion becomes a systematic 1/N expansion where N ~ 60. The spectral index and the ratio of…
We study a model of inflation in which a scalar field $\chi$ is non-minimally coupled to Starobinsky's $R^2$ gravity. After transforming it to the Einstein frame, a new scalar field, the scalaron $\phi$, will appear and couple to $\chi$…
We study models of inflation where the scalar field $\phi$ that drives inflation is coupled non-minimally to gravity via $\xi \phi^2 R$, or where the gravity sector is enlarged by an $R^2$ term. We consider the original Higgs inflation,…
We study the generation of local non-Gaussianity in models of canonical single field inflation when their backgrounds are either attractor or non-attractor. We show that the invariance of inflation under space-time diffeomorphisms can be…
We investigate the dynamics of the recently proposed model of assisted inflation. In this model an arbitrary number of scalar fields with exponential potentials evolve towards an inflationary scaling solution, even if each of the individual…
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…
The methods of effective field theory are used to study generic theories of inflation with a single inflaton field and to perform a general analysis of the associated non-Gaussianities. We investigate the amplitudes and shapes of the…
The expected improvements in the precision of inflationary physics observables including the scalar spectral index $n_{s}$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ will reveal more than just the viability of a particular model of inflation. In…
We discuss the existence of de Sitter inflationary solutions for the string-inspired fourth-derivative gravity theories with dilaton field. We consider a space-time of arbitrary dimension D and an arbitrary parametrization of the target…
We review models which generate a large non-Gaussianity of the local form. We first briefly consider three models which generate the non-Gaussianity either at or after the end of inflation; the curvaton scenario, modulated (p)reheating and…
In this paper we show that it is possible to achieve successful hilltop inflation in which the inflaton is identified as the modulus field in a modular invariant theory. The dilaton plays a crucial role in shaping the potential. Modular…
Applying a novel non-perturbative functional method framework to a two-dimensional bosonic sigma model with tachyon, dilaton and graviton backgrounds we construct exact (non perturbative in the Regge slope) inflationary solutions,…
We describe models of single-field inflation with small and sharp step features in the potential (and sound speed) of the inflaton field, in the context of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation. This approach allows us to study the…
In this work, we study constant-roll inflation driven by a scalar field with non-minimal derivative coupling to gravity, via the Einstein tensor. This model contains a free parameter, $\eta$, which quantifies the non-minimal derivative…
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 consider a 4+N dimensional Einstein gravity coupled to a non-linear sigma model. This theory admits a solution in which the N extra dimensions contract exponentially while the ordinary space expand exponentially. Physically, the…
We explore the paradigm according to which inflation is driven by a four-dimensional strongly coupled dynamics coupled non-minimally to gravity. We start by introducing the general setup, both in the metric and Palatini formulation, for…
We consider a class of multi-component hybrid inflation models whose evolution may be analytically solved under the slow-roll approximation. We call it multi-brid inflation (or $n$-brid inflation where $n$ stands for the number of inflaton…