Related papers: Generalized two-field $\alpha$-attractor models fr…
We review non-linear sigma-models with (2,1) and (2,2) supersymmetry. We focus on off-shell closure of the supersymmetry algebra and give a complete list of (2,2) superfields. We provide evidence to support the conjecture that all N=(2,2)…
In the framework of classical scale invariance, we consider quadratic gravity in the Palatini formalism and investigate the inflationary predictions of the theory. Our model corresponds to a two-field scalar-tensor theory, that involves the…
In this paper we consider two different nonlinear $\sigma$-models minimally coupled to Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. We show that the resultant geometries represent minimal modifications with respect to those found in GR, though…
By adapting previously known arguments concerning Ricci flow and the c-theorem, we give a direct proof that in a two-dimensional sigma-model with compact target space, scale invariance implies conformal invariance in perturbation theory.…
We describe the geomety of a set of scalar fields coupled to gravity. We consider the formalism of a differential Z_2-graded algebra of $2\times 2$ matrices whose elements are differential forms on space-time. The connection and the…
In this paper, we study inflation in the framework of the nonrelativistic general covariant theory of the Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity with the projectability condition and an arbitrary coupling constant $\lambda$. We find that the…
This is a review of the relation between supersymmetric non-linear sigma models and target space geometry. In particular, we report on the derivation of generalized K\"ahler geometry from sigma models with additional spinorial superfields.…
We study the background dynamics and primordial perturbation in $\alpha$-attractor-type double inflation. The model is composed of two minimally coupled scalar fields, where each of the fields has a potential of the $\alpha$-attractor type.…
We develop a hybrid formalism suitable for modeling scalar field dark matter, in which the phase-space distribution associated to the real scalar field is modeled by statistical equal-time two-point functions and gravity is treated by two…
Nonlinear sigma models arise in supergravity theories with or without matter couplings in various dimensions and they are important in understanding the duality symmetries of M-theory. With this motivation in mind, we review the salient…
We use the long-wavelength formalism to investigate the level of bispectral non-Gaussianity produced in two-field inflation models with standard kinetic terms. Even though the Planck satellite has so far not detected any primordial…
We consider N=2 supergravity in four dimensions, coupled to an arbitrary number of vector- and hypermultiplets, where abelian isometries of the quaternionic hyperscalar target manifold are gauged. Using a static and spherically or…
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…
Scalar field cosmologies with a generalized harmonic potential and matter with energy density $\rho_m$, pressure $p_m$, and barotropic equation of state (EoS) $p_m=(\gamma-1)\rho_m, \; \gamma\in[0,2]$ in Kantowski-Sachs (KS) and closed…
We discuss the phenomenology of recently proposed holographic models of inflation, in which the very early universe is non-geometric and is described by a dual three-dimensional quantum field theory (QFT). We analyze models determined by a…
For two families of four-dimensional off-shell N = 2 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-models constructed originally in projective superspace, we develop their formulation in terms of N = 1 chiral superfields. Specifically, these theories are:…
In this paper we study the general conditions that have to be met for a gauged extension of a two-dimensional bosonic sigma-model to exist. In an inversion of the usual approach of identifying a global symmetry and then promoting it to a…
The Planck value of the spectral index can be interpreted as $n_s = 1 - 2/N$ in terms of the number of e-foldings $N$. An appealing explanation for this phenomenological observation is provided by $\alpha$-attractors: the inflationary…
We investigate the properties of the renormalisation group (RG) flow of two-dimensional sigma models with a generic metric coupling by utilising known results for the Ricci flow. We point out that on many occasions the RG flow develops…
There are well-known criteria on the potential and field-space geometry for determining if slow-roll, slow-turn, multi-field inflation is possible. However, even though it has been a topic of much recent interest, slow-roll, rapid-turn…