Related papers: The Effective Theory of Shift-Symmetric Cosmologie…
Tribrid inflation is a class of supersymmetric inflation models where the scalar component of a matter superfield, or a $D$-flat direction of matter fields, drives inflation. Similar to Hybrid inflation, the end of inflation is reached when…
On the occasion of a century from the proposal of General relativity by Einstein, I attempt to tackle some open issues in modern cosmology, via a toy but non-trivial model. Specifically, I would like to link together: (i) the smallness of…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
We investigate the cosmological behavior in a universe governed by time asymmetric extensions of general relativity, which is a novel modified gravity based on the addition of new, time-asymmetric, terms on the Hamiltonian framework, in a…
In the landscape, if there is to be any prospect of scientific prediction, it is crucial that there be states which are distinguished in some way. The obvious candidates are states which exhibit symmetries. Here we focus on states which…
In the superconformal formulation of supergravity, the standard supergravity action appears as a result of spontaneous symmetry breaking when the conformal compensator scalar field, the conformon, acquires a nonzero value, giving rise to…
Conformal symmetry is broken in physical QCD; nevertheless, one can use conformal symmetry as a template, systematically correcting for its nonzero $\beta$ function as well as higher-twist effects. For example, commensurate scale relations…
In this PhD thesis, we investigate generic features of inflation which are strictly related to fundamental aspects of UV-physics scenarios, such as string theory or supergravity. After a short introduction to standard and inflationary…
In the framework of scalar-tensor theories of gravity, we construct a new kind of cosmological model that conflates inflation and ekpyrosis. During a phase of conflation, the universe undergoes accelerated expansion, but with crucial…
In the early Universe matter can be described as a conformal invariant ultra-relativistic perfect fluid, which does not contribute, on classical level, to the evolution of the isotropic and homogeneous metric. If we suppose that there is…
We develop the effective field theory (EFT) of perturbations in the context of scalar-tensor theories with a spacelike scalar profile on arbitrary black hole backgrounds. Our construction of the EFT is based on the fact that in the unitary…
The Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a microscopic theory which includes extra dimensions and new symmetries. A part of my thesis consisted in constructing a new class of models with two extra dimensions. We showed that these…
We develop a numerical statistical method to study linear cosmological fluctuations in inflationary scenarios with multiple fields, and apply it to an ensemble of six-field inflection point models in string theory. The latter are concrete…
We approach the cosmological inflation thought symmetries of differential equations. We consider the general inflaton field in a homogeneous Friedmann--Lema\^{\i}tre--Robertson--Walker spacetime and with the use of conformal transformations…
We show that a pair of field theory monodromies in which the shift symmetry is broken by small, well motivated deformations, naturally incorporates a mechanism for cancelling off radiative corrections to the cosmological constant. The…
We provide a comprehensive picture for the formulation of the perfect fluid in the modern effective field theory formalism at both the classical and quantum level. Due to the necessity of decomposing the hydrodynamical variables $(\rho, p,…
Quantum effects play an essential role in modern cosmology. Perhaps the most striking example comes from large-scale structures, generally assumed to originate from vacuum quantum fluctuations and stretched by an expansion phase. Inflation…
Starting from an initial classical four dimensional flat background of the heterotic or type II superstrings, we are able to determine at the string one-loop level the quantum corrections to the effective potential due to the spontaneous…
Dynamical systems theory is especially well-suited for determining the possible asymptotic states (at both early and late times) of cosmological models, particularly when the governing equations are a finite system of autonomous ordinary…
If in a finite universe, the tree-level vacuum is a symmetric superposition of coherent states, in each of which the inflaton field assumes a different, energy-minimizing mean value (vev), then the resulting energy is positive and decreases…