Related papers: $\alpha'$ Inflation: Moduli Stabilisation and Obse…

We analyze the interplay between K\"ahler moduli stabilization and chaotic inflation in supergravity. While heavy moduli decouple from inflation in the supersymmetric limit, supersymmetry breaking generically introduces non-decoupling…

Inflationary models driven by a large number of axion fields are discussed in the context of type IIB compactifications with N=1 supersymmetry. The inflatons arise as the scalar modes of the R-R two-forms evaluated on vanishing two-cycles…

We study brane inflation in a warped deformed conifold background that includes general possible corrections to the throat geometry sourced by coupling to the bulk of a compact Calabi-Yau space. We focus specifically, on the perturbation by…

We obtain the vacuum solutions for M-theory compactified on eight-manifolds with non-vanishing four-form flux by analyzing the scalar potential appearing in the three-dimensional theory. Many of these vacua are not supersymmetric and yet…

In this note, we refine the racetrack inflation model constructed in arXiv:hep-th/0406230 by including the open string modulus. This modulus encodes the embedding of our braneworld inside some Calabi-Yau throat. We argue that in generic…

During inflation, higher derivative terms in the gravitational action may play a significant role. Building on new stable formulations of four-derivative scalar-tensor theories, we study the impact of these corrections in the case where the…

In a recent paper [17], we studied the evolution of the background geometry and scalar perturbations in an inflationary, spatially closed Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model having constant positive spatial curvature and…

We investigate a particular type of curvaton mechanism, under which inflation can occur at Hubble scale of order 1 TeV. The curvaton is a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson, whose order parameter increases after a phase transition during…

The recent BICEP2 measurements of B-modes indicate a large tensor-to-scalar ratio in inflationary cosmology, which points towards trans-Planckian evolution of the inflaton. We propose possible string-theory realizations thereof. Schemes for…

We propose a new class of natural inflation models based on a hidden scale invariance. In a very generic Wilsonian effective field theory with an arbitrary number of scalar fields, which exhibits scale invariance via the dilaton, the…

We consider low scale slow roll inflation driven by the gauge invariant flat directions {\bf udd} and {\bf LLe} of the Minimally Supersymmetric Standard Model at the vicinity of a saddle point of the scalar potential. We study the stability…

Extracting reliable low-energy information from string compactifications notoriously requires a detailed understanding of the UV sensitivity of the corresponding effective field theories. Despite past efforts in computing perturbative…

We compute the primordial scalar, vector and tensor metric perturbations arising from quantum field inflation. Quantum field inflation takes into account the nonperturbative quantum dynamics of the inflaton consistently coupled to the…

We successfully embed the Kim-Nilles-Peloso (KNP) alignment mechanism for enhancing the axion decay constant in the context of large volume type IIB orientifolds. The flat direction is generated in the plane of ($C_0$-$C_2$) axions…

The eta problem is one of the most significant obstacles to building a successful inflationary model in string theory. Planck mass suppressed corrections to the inflaton potential generally lead to inflaton masses of order the Hubble scale…

Processes of particle production during inflation can increase the amplitude of the scalar metric perturbations. We show that such a mechanism can naturally arise in supergravity models where an axion-like field, whose potential is…

We investigate the interplay between moduli dynamics and inflation, focusing on the KKLT-scenario and cosmological $\alpha$-attractors. General couplings between these sectors can induce a significant backreaction and potentially destroy…

We study an inflationary model developed by Kaloper and Sorbo, in which the inflaton is an axion with a sub-Planckian decay constant, whose potential is generated by mixing with a topological 4-form field strength. This gives a 4d…

We point out that the theoretical predictions for the inflationary observables may be generically altered by the presence of fields which are heavier than the Hubble rate during inflation and whose dynamics is usually neglected. They…

We consider a cosmological scenario within the KKLT framework for moduli stabilization in string theory. The universal open string tachyon of decaying non-BPS D-brane configurations is proposed to drive eternal topological inflation.…