Related papers: $\alpha'$ Inflation: Moduli Stabilisation and Obse…
By implementing a genetic algorithm we search for stable vacua in Type IIB non-geometric flux compactification on an isotropic torus with orientifold 3-planes. We find that the number of stable dS and AdS vacua are of the same order.…
We illustrate a framework for constructing models of chaotic inflation where the inflaton is the position of a D3 brane along the universal cover of a string compactification. In our scenario, a brane rolls many times around a non-trivial…
We propose a new realization of axion monodromy inflation in which axion monodromy arises from torsional cycles in a type IIB compactification. A class of monomial potentials is obtained with specific values for the power index. Moreover,…
The Minimal Supersymmetry Standard Model contains several hundreds of D- and F-flat directions that are lifted by soft susy breaking terms as well as by non-renormalizable terms. In a recent paper we find that only two of these directions,…
We derive a sufficient condition for realizing meta-stable de Sitter vacua with small positive cosmological constant within type IIB string theory flux compactifications with spontaneously broken supersymmetry. There are a number of `lamp…
A perturbative strategy for inflation described by two-inflaton fields is developed using a mathematical analogy with the renormalization-group. Two small quantities, $\alpha$ and $\lambda$, corresponding to standard slow-roll parameters…
Generically, the gravitational-wave or tensor-mode contribution to the primordial curvature spectrum of inflation is tiny if the field-range of the inflaton is much smaller than the Planck scale. We show that this pessimistic conclusion is…
The four- and five-dimensional effective actions of Calabi-Yau threefold compactifications are derived with a focus on terms involving up to four space-time derivatives. The starting points for these reductions are the ten- and…
We point out some of the outstanding challenges for embedding inflationary cosmology within string theory studying the process of reheating for models where the inflaton is a closed string mode parameterising the size of an internal cycle…
I study two-stage hybrid inflation driven by moduli fields, corresponding to flat directions of supersymmetry, lifted by supergravity corrections. The first stage corresponds to a period of either fast-roll or `locked' inflation, induced by…
We present a simple effective field theory formulation of a general family of single field flux monodromy models for which strong coupling effects at large field values can flatten the potential and activate operators with higher powers of…
In this work we re-investigate pros and cons of mutated hilltop inflation. Applying Hamilton-Jacobi formalism we solve inflationary dynamics and find that inflation goes on along the ${\cal W}_{-1}$ branch of the Lambert function. Depending…
We investigate the possibility that the Universe may inflate due to moduli fields, corresponding to flat directions of supersymmetry, lifted by supergravity corrections. Using a hybrid-type potential we obtain a two-stage inflationary…
A detection of primordial B-modes has been heralded not only as a smoking gun for the existence of inflation, but also as a way to establish the scale at which inflation took place. In this paper we critically reinvestigate the connection…
In models like axion monodromy, temporal features during inflation which are not associated with its ending can produce scalar, and to a lesser extent, tensor power spectra where deviations from scale-free power law spectra can be as large…
We investigate models of `intermediate' inflation, where the scale factor $a(t)$ grows as $a(t) = \exp (A t^f)$, $0 < f < 1$, $A$ constant. These solutions arise as exact analytic solutions for a given class of potentials for the inflaton…
We first investigate the attractor solution associated with Assisted Inflation in Heterotic M-Theory to see if it is stable. By perturbing the solutions we find a solitary stable fixed point with the general path through phase space…
We study the dynamics of axion-like fields in F-theory and suggest that they can serve as inflatons in models of natural inflation. The axions arise from harmonic three-forms on the F-theory compactification space and parameterize a complex…
Quantum fast-roll initial conditions for the inflaton which are different from the classical fast-roll conditions and from the quantum slow-roll conditions can lead to inflation that last long enough. These quantum fast-roll initial…
We argue that in type IIB LVS string models, after including the leading order moduli stabilisation effects, the moduli space for the remaining flat directions is compact due the Calabi-Yau K\"ahler cone conditions. In cosmological…