Related papers: Can Gravitational Instantons Really Constrain Axio…
In this paper, we study Einstein gravity with a minimally coupled scalar field accompanied with a potential, assuming an O(4) symmetric metric ansatz. We call an Euclidean instanton is to be an oscillating instanton, if there exists a point…
Axions with broken discrete shift symmetry (axion monodromy) have recently played a central role both in the discussion of inflation and the `relaxion' approach to the hierarchy problem. We suggest a very minimalist way to constrain such…
A new class of inflationary attractors characterized by a strongly non-geodesic motion has been discovered and explored in the past few years. I describe how they naturally arise in negatively curved field space, allowing to inflate on…
We show that pure quadratic gravity with quantum loop corrections yields a viable inflationary scenario. We also show that a large family of models in the Jordan frame, with softly-broken scale invariance, corresponds to the same theory…
We investigate whether inflation in the early universe can be induced by an extra component of a five-dimensional ${\rm U(1)}$ gauge field in the Randall-Sundrum warped spacetime or not. We show that an effective potential obtained by…
Slow-roll inflation is a successful paradigm. However we find that even a small coupling of the inflaton to other light fields can dramatically alter the dynamics and predictions of inflation. As an example, the inflaton can generically…
We study the effects of particle production on the evolution of the inflaton field in an axion monodromy model with the goal of discovering in which situations the resulting dynamics will be consistent with the {\it swampland constraints}.…
It is quite well known for some time that string inspired axionic terms of the form $\nu (\phi)\tilde{R}R$, known also as Chern-Simons terms, do not affect the scalar perturbations and the background evolution for a flat…
A pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson (such as an axion-like particle) is a theoretically well-motivated inflaton as it features a naturally flat potential (natural inflation). This is because Goldstone's theorem protects its potential from…
We construct a model of hybrid inflation within a controlled five-dimensional effective field theory framework. The inflaton and waterfall fields are realized as naturally light moduli of the 5D compactification. At the quantum level,…
String and M-theory compactifications generically have compact moduli which can potentially act as the QCD axion. However, as demonstrated here, such a compact modulus can not play the role of a QCD axion and solve the strong CP problem if…
A Gauss-Bonnet term naturally appears in the action for gravity when one considers the existence of space time with dimensions more than 1+3. A variety of inflationary models can be obtained within such a framework, once the scale factor…
We consider the effects of inhomogeneous initial conditions in both the scalar field profile and the extrinsic curvature on different inflationary models. In particular, we compare the robustness of small field inflation to that of large…
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…
In this work, we elaborate further on a 4D cosmological Running-Vacuum-type Model (RVM) of inflation that characterises string-inspired Chern-Simons (CS) gravity. It has been shown that inflation in such models is caused by a condensation…
A gravitational scenario is proposed where the euclidean action is invariant under the isotropic and homogeneous version of the euclidean {\it U(1)} group of local transformations of the scale factor and scalar matter field, interpreting…
We propose a new framework for multi-field inflation in which a nearly constant potential energy is maintained during inflation before decreasing rapidly, in a manner analogous to a classical top spinning upright for a long time before…
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 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…
Wrapped branes in string compactifications introduce a monodromy that extends the field range of individual closed-string axions to beyond the Planck scale. Furthermore, approximate shift symmetries of the system naturally control…