Related papers: Two-loop corrections to Starobinsky-Higgs inflatio…
Inflation is often described through the dynamics of a scalar field, slow-rolling in a suitable potential. Ultimately, this inflaton must be identified as the expectation value of a quantum field, evolving in a quantum effective potential.…
We critically examine the recent claim that the Standard Model Higgs boson ${\cal H}$ could drive inflation in agreement with observations if $|{\cal H}|^2$ has a strong coupling $\xi\sim 10^4$ to the Ricci curvature scalar. We first show…
Motivated by trans-Planckian issues in inflation, we determine the Hilbert space and amplitudes of quantum perturbations in the general low-energy effective theory of (multi-)field inflation without relying on the sub-horizon limit. The…
The large value of non-minimal coupling constant $\xi$ required to satisfy CMB observations in Higgs inflation violates unitarity. In this work we study Higgs-inflation with non-canonical kinetic term of DBI form to find whether $\xi$ can…
This thesis presents a possible inflation scenario as a consequence of non-minimal gravitational couplings in the Conformal Standard Model. That model consists, in comparison to the SM, of additional right-chiral neutrinos and a complex…
We present novel implementations of Starobisky-like inflation within Supergravity adopting Kaehler potentials for the inflaton which parameterize hyperbolic geometries known from the T-model inflation. The associated superpotentials are…
We investigate the impact of curvature corrections to Starobinsky inflation in light of the latest observational results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). While the pure Starobinsky model remains a compelling candidate for cosmic…
We suggest a clockwork mechanism for a Higgs-like inflation with the non-minimal coupling term $\xi\phi^2 R$. The seemingly unnatural ratio of parameters, $\lambda/\xi^2 \sim 10^{-10}$ of the self quartic coupling of the inflaton,…
We review the status of the Starobinsky-like models for inflation beyond minimal gravity and discuss the unitarity problem due to the presence of a large non-minimal gravity coupling. We show that the induced gravity models allow for a…
A self-consistent pre-inflationary extension of the inflationary scenario with the Starobinsky potential, favored by Planck data, is studied using techniques from loop quantum cosmology (LQC). The results are compared with the quadratic…
We study inflation induced by (power-low) scalar curvature corrections to General Relativity. The class of inflationary scalar potentials $V(\sigma)\sim\exp[n\,\sigma]$, $n$ general parameter, is investigated in the Einsein frame and the…
It has been claimed that the electroweak vacuum may be unstable during inflation due to large fluctuations of order $H$ in case of a high inflationary scale as suggested by BICEP2. We compute the Standard Model Higgs effective potential…
This thesis is centered on three main subjects within the theory of inflation and cosmological perturbations: loop corrections to the power spectrum of curvature fluctuations generated during inflation; evolution of cosmological…
Since the building-blocks of supersymmetric models include chiral superfields containing pairs of effective scalar fields, a two-field approach is particularly appropriate for models of inflation based on supergravity. In this paper, we…
Nonminimal coupling between the inflaton and the Ricci scalar plays a crucial role in shaping the predictions of single-field inflationary models. While a quartic potential with such coupling represents one of the simplest realizations…
Combining the electroweak phase transition and the Higgs searches at the LHC, we study the Higgs inflation in the type-I and type-II two-Higgs-doublet models with non-minimally couplings to gravity. Considering relevant theoretical and…
We study inflation for a quantum scalar electrodynamics model in curved space-time and for higher-derivative quantum gravity (QG) coupled with scalar electrodynamics. The corresponding renormalization-group (RG) improved potential is…
Experimental data suggest that the Higgs potential has a lower ground state at high field values. Consequently, decaying from the electroweak to the true vacuum nucleates bubbles that expand rapidly and can have dire consequences for our…
A viable model of large-field (chaotic) inflation with efficient production of primordial black holes is proposed in Starobinsky-like (modified) supergravity leading to the "no-scale-type" K\"ahler potential and the Wess-Zumino-type…
We describe an induced inflation, which refers to a class of inflationary models with a generalized non-minimal coupling $\xi g(\phi) R$ and a specific scalar potential. The defining property of these models is that the scalar field takes a…