Related papers: Tensor Spectra Templates for Axion-Gauge Fields Dy…
We review the relation between the inflationary potential and the spectra of density (scalar) perturbations and gravitational waves (tensor perturbations) produced, with particular emphasis on the possibility of reconstructing the inflaton…
We study the energy-momentum tensor and helicity of gauge fields coupled through $g \phi F \tilde{F}/4$ to a pseudo-scalar field $\phi$ driving inflation. Under the assumption of a constant time derivative of the background inflaton, we…
Inflation typically predicts a quasi scale-invariant spectrum of gravitational waves. In models of slow-roll inflation, the amplitude of such a background is too small to allow direct detection without a dedicated space-based experiment…
We demonstrate that in the presence of a light scalar spectator field, vacuum transitions taking place during inflation can produce large, potentially detectable non-Gaussian signatures in the primordial curvature perturbation. Such…
We study the onset of the reheating epoch at the end of axion-driven inflation where the axion is coupled to an Abelian, $U(1)$, gauge field via a Chern-Simons interaction term. We focus primarily on $m^2\phi^2$ inflation and explore the…
The axionic inflaton with the Chern-Simons coupling may generate U(1) gauge fields and charged particles simultaneously. In order to incorporate the backreaction from the charged particles on the gauge fields, we develop a procedure to…
We study a model of inflation with multiple pseudo-scalar fields coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field through Chern-Simons interactions. Because of parity violating interactions, one polarization of the gauge field is amplified yielding to…
We study the CMB observables in axion monodromy inflation. These well-motivated scenarios for inflation in string theory have monomial potentials over super-Planckian field ranges, with superimposed sinusoidal modulations from instanton…
In axion gauge field inflation an axion-like particle driving cosmic inflation is coupled to the Chern-Simons density of an Abelian or non-Abelian gauge group. In the case of a non-Abelian gauge group, this can lead to the formation of a…
Identifying dark matter candidates that simultaneously generate multiple observable cosmological signatures is a key goal in connecting particle physics with upcoming observations. Axion-like particles coupled to the Standard Model photon…
We consider the presence of an axion like particle, $\sigma$, with a generic $CP$ violating axial coupling of the form $ (\alpha \, \sigma/f) F \tilde{F}$, where $F_{\mu\nu}$ is the gauge field strength of a generic abelian $U(1)$ gauge…
We study the observational signatures from particle production of a $U(1)$ gauge field kinetically coupled to an inflaton. Regarding the form of gauge kinetic function, we consider the possibility that it becomes stabilized at a certain…
We carry out numerical investigations of the dynamics and perturbations in the Nflation model of Dimopoulos et al. (2005). This model features large numbers of scalar fields with different masses, which can cooperate to drive inflation…
Models of large-field inflation based on axion-like fields with shift symmetries can be simple and natural, and make a promising prediction of detectable primordial gravitational waves. The Weak Gravity Conjecture is known to constrain the…
We study gravitational wave production from gauge preheating in a variety of inflationary models, detailing its dependence on both the energy scale and the shape of the potential. We show that preheating into Abelian gauge fields…
Several pulsar timing arrays including NANOGrav, EPTA, PPTA, and CPTA have recently reported the observation of a stochastic background of gravitational wave spectrum in the nano-Hz frequencies. An inflationary interpretation of this…
Axion inflation models coupled to a gauge sector via a Chern-Simons term exhibit an array of interesting phenomenology including a chiral gravitational wave spectrum and primordial black hole production. They may also provide a useful…
Large field inflation is arguably the simplest and most natural variant of slow-roll inflation. Axion monodromy may be the most promising framework for realising this scenario. As one of its defining features, the long-range polynomial…
We show that a scalar excited state with large occupation numbers during inflation leads to an enhancement of tensor modes and a characteristic pattern of order-one oscillations in the associated stochastic gravitational wave background…
If the conformal invariance of electromagnetism is broken during inflation, then primordial magnetic fields may be produced. If this symmetry breaking is generated by the coupling between electromagnetism and a scalar field---e.g. the…