Related papers: Inflation from periodic extra dimensions
In models of natural inflation, the inflaton is an axion-like particle. Unfortunately, axion potentials in UV-complete theories appear to be too steep to drive inflation. We show that, even for a steep potential, natural inflation can occur…
Based on a previously derived superstring model possessing a cosmological sector that mimics Starobinsky inflation, we analyze several questions addressed in the recent literature: the generation of an effective $R^2$-term, the stability of…
Natural inflation relies on the existence of an axion decay constant which is super-Planckian. In string theory only sub-Planckian axion decay constants have been found in any controlled regime. However in field theory it is possible to…
In this paper we argue that the mechanism of unwinding inflation is naturally present in warped compactifications of type IIB string theory with local throats. The unwinding of flux is caused by its annihilation against branes. The…
Using only general properties of the tachyon potential we show that inflation may be generic when many branes and anti-branes become coincident. Inflation may occur because of: (1) the assistance of the many diagonal tachyon fields; (2)…
We review the realization of Starobinsky-type inflation within induced-gravity Supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-SUSY models. In both cases, inflation is in agreement with the current data and can be attained for subplanckian values of the…
We consider models of chaotic inflation driven by the real parts of a conjugate pair of Higgs superfields involved in the spontaneous breaking of a grand unification symmetry at a scale assuming its supersymmetric value. We combine a…
We study inflationary potentials in the framework of superstring theories. Successful inflation may occur due to chiral fields, but only after the dilaton and moduli are stabilized. This is achieved by demanding an S-duality invariant…
We study possible spatial domains containing expanding extra dimensions. We show that they are predicted in the framework of $f(R)$ gravity and could appear due to quantum fluctuations during inflation. Their interior is characterized by…
We study a radion model for inflation and density perturbation identifying the scalar field arising from the five-dimensional gravity on $M_4 x S^1$ with the inflaton. The inflaton potential arising from 5D graviton and matter one-loop…
A long period of inflation can be triggered when the inflaton is held up on the top of a steep potential by the infrared end of a warped space. We first study the field theory description of such a model. We then embed it in the flux…
The slow roll inflation requires an extremely flat inflaton potential. The supersymmetry (SUSY) is not only motivated from the gauge hierarchy problem, but also from stabilizing that flatness of the inflaton potential against radiative…
We explore the observational implications of models of intermediate inflation driven by modified dispersion relations, specifically those representing the phenomenon of dimensional reduction in the ultraviolet limit. These models are…
We show how general initial conditions for small field inflation can be obtained in multi-field models. This is provided by non-linear angular friction terms in the inflaton that provide a phase of non-slow-roll inflation before the…
We consider a broad class of inflationary models that arise naturally in supergravity. They are defined in terms of a parameter $\alpha$ that determines the curvature and cutoff of these models. As a function of this parameter, we exhibit…
Many theories beyond the Standard Model include extra dimensions, though these have yet to be directly observed. In this work we consider the possibility of a compactification mechanism which both allows extra dimensions and is compatible…
Within the framework of a five-dimensional brane world with a stabilized radion, we compute the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and show that the perturbations are a powerful tool to probe the physics of extra…
In the context of (4+d)-dimensional general relativity, we propose an inflationary scenario wherein 3 spatial dimensions grow large, while d extra dimensions remain small. Our model requires that a self-interacting d-form acquire a vacuum…
We construct models of inflation with many randomly interacting fields and use these to study the generation of cosmological observables. We model the potentials as multi-dimensional Gaussian random fields (GRFs) and identify powerful…
Dilaton and axion are ubiquitous in extended supergravities and closed superstrings. We propose new models of modular inflation in four-dimensional $N=1$ supergravity coupled to the chiral dilaton-axion-goldstino supermultiplet, which fit…