Related papers: A plausible solution to the problem of initial con…
Inflation is considered one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology. However, the account of the origin of cosmic structure, as provided by the standard inflationary paradigm, is not fully satisfactory. The fundamental issue is 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…
We investigate a standard minimally-coupled scalar-field inflationary scenario, which is based on a new potential, with suitably generalized plateau features, that leads to extra small tensor-to-scalar ratios. In particular, we consider a…
We propose a model for cosmic inflation which is based on an effective description of strongly interacting, nonsupersymmetric matter within the framework of dynamical Abelian projection and centerization. The underlying gauge symmetry is…
We discuss in some detail the requirements on an early-Universe model that solves the horizon and flatness problems during the epoch of classical cosmology ($t\ge t_i\gg 10^{-43}\sec$). We show that a dynamical resolution of the horizon…
We discuss the initial conditions problem for inflation driven by the vacuum energy of a plateau potential, and in particular the Starobinsky inflation. We show that the supergravity embedding of the $R+R^2$ theory naturally decreases the…
Anomaly-free perturbations of loop quantum cosmology reveal a deformed space-time structure, in which the signature changes when the energy density is $\rho=\rho_c/2$. Furthermore, in loop quantum cosmology, one can obtain an effective…
The amplitude of primordial curvature perturbations is enhanced when a radiation bath at a temperature T>H is sustained during inflation by dissipative particle production, which is particularly significant when a non-trivial statistical…
The relaxion scenario presents an intriguing extension of the standard model in which the particle introduced to solve to the strong CP problem, the axion, also achieves the dynamical relaxation of the Higgs boson mass term. In this work we…
We consider the classical evolution of the inflaton field $\phi(t)$ and the Hubble parameter $H(t)$ in homogeneous and isotropic single-field inflation models. Under an extremely broad assumption, we show that the universe generically…
Usual inflation is realized with a slow rolling scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. In contrast, we consider dynamics of a scalar with a flat effective potential, conformally coupled to gravity. Surprisingly, it contains an attractor…
The recently released data from the $\textit{Atacama Cosmology Telescope}$ (ACT) confirms that the primordial scalar spectrum is extremely flat. This, together with current upper bounds on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, implies that the…
We develop in this thesis the principles governing the production of our universe's primordial inhomogeneities during its early phase of inflation. As a guiding thread we ask what physics during inflation can lead to perturbations so large…
We define a new inflationary scenario in which inflation starts naturally after the Big Bang when the energy density drops below some critical value. As a model, we use recently proposed symmetron field whose effective potential depends on…
A numerical study of a pseudoscalar inflation having an axion-photon-like coupling is performed by solving numerically the coupled differential equations of motion for inflaton and photon mode functions from the onset of inflation to the…
We investigate the feasibility of models of inflation with a large Gauss-Bonnet coupling at late times, which have been shown to modify and prevent the end of inflation. Despite the potential of Gauss-Bonnet models in predicting favourable…
We study the problem of scalar particle production after inflation by a rapidly oscillating inflaton field. We use the framework of the chaotic inflation scenario with quartic and quadratic inflaton potentials. Particular attention is paid…
Extensions of the Standard Model typically contain ``flaton fields" defined as fields with large vacuum expectation values and almost flat potentials where scalar self-coupling is small or vanishes at tree level. Such potentials have been…
We present an effective model where the inflaton is a relaxion that scans the Higgs mass and sets it at the weak scale. The dynamics consist of a long epoch in which inflation is due to the shallow slope of the potential, followed by a few…
We study the post-inflationary dynamics of the Standard Model Higgs and a real singlet scalar $s$, coupled together through a renormalizable coupling $\lambda_{sh}h^2s^2$, in a $Z_2$ symmetric model that may explain the observed dark matter…