Related papers: Hill-climbing dark inflation
Currently there is no definitive description for the accelerated expansion of the Universe at both early and late times; we know these two periods as the epochs of inflation and dark energy. Contained within this Thesis are two studies of…
If cosmic inflation was driven by an electrically neutral scalar field stable on cosmological time scales, the field necessarily constitutes all or part of dark matter (DM). We study this possibility in a scenario where the inflaton field…
In this work we shall study $k$-inflation theories with non-minimal coupling of the scalar field to gravity, in the presence of only a higher order kinetic term of the form $\sim \mathrm{const}\times X^{\mu}$, with…
In this work we study the GW170817-compatible Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theories during the reheating and the end of inflationary era. Given the scalar field potential $V(\phi)$ which can have some intrinsic importance for the theory,…
In simple inflationary cosmological scenarios the near-exponential growth can be followed by a long period in which the Universe is dominated by the oscillating inflaton condensate. The condensate is initially almost homogeneous, but…
The existence of the inflationary era in the early Universe seems to be strongly supported by recent CMB observations. However, only a few realistic inflation scenarios which have close relation to particle physics seem to have been known…
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 analyze the early-time inflation in a scalar-tensor theory of gravity where the scalar field is minimally coupled with the Gauss-Bonnet four dimensional topological invariant. The theory belongs to a class of Horndeski…
Higgs inflation with a Gauss-Bonnet term is studied in the Einstein frame. Our model features two coupling functions, $\Omega^2(\phi)$ and $\omega(\phi)$, coupled to the Ricci scalar and Gauss-Bonnet combinations. We found a special…
In spirit of the recently proposed four-parameter generalized entropy of apparent horizon, we investigate inflationary cosmology where the matter field inside of the horizon is dominated by a scalar field with a power law potential (i.e.,…
Primordial black holes (PBH) may form from large cosmological perturbations, produced during inflation when the inflaton's velocity is sufficiently slowed down. This usually requires very flat regions in the inflationary potential. In this…
We explore the possibility of describing our universe with a singularity--free, closed, spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmological model, using only general relativity and a suitable equation of state which produces an inflationary…
We investigate, in a model-independent way, the conditions required to obtain a satisfactory model of extended inflation in which inflation is brought to an end by a first-order phase transition. The constraints are that the correct present…
We study the possibility that, after inflation, the inflaton reaches thermal equilibrium with the Standard Model thermal bath and eventually freezes-out in the non-relativistic regime. When the inflaton decay is the sole source of…
A Friedman cosmology is investigated based on scalar-tensor gravitation with general metric coupling and scalar potential functions. We show that for a broad class of such functions, the scalar field can be dynamically trapped using a…
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 construct an explicit scenario whereby the same material driving inflation in the early Universe can comprise dark matter in the present Universe, using a simple quadratic potential. Following inflation and preheating, the density of…
During cosmological inflation, it has been suggested that fields coupled to the inflaton can be excited by the slow-rolling inflaton into a quasi-stable non-vacuum state. Within this scenario of ``warm inflation'', this could allow for a…
The union of high-energy particle theories and gravitation often gives rise to an evolving strength of gravity. The standard picture of the earliest universe would certainly deserve revision if the Planck mass, which defines the strength of…
The Higgs-Dilaton cosmological model is able to describe simultaneously an inflationary expansion in the early Universe and a dark energy dominated stage responsible for the present day acceleration. It also leads to a non-trivial relation…