Related papers: Hyper non-Gaussianities in inflation with strongly…
Ultra slow-roll inflation has recently been used to challenge the non-Gaussianity consistency relation. We show that this inflationary scenario belongs to a one parameter class of models and we study its properties and observational…
In [1], a most general higher curvature non-local gravity action was derived that admits a particular $R^2$-like inflationary solution predicting the spectral index of primordial scalar perturbations $n_s(N)\approx 1-\frac{2}{N}$, where $N$…
The possibility of having an inflationary epoch within a noncommutative geometry approach to unifying gravity and the standard model is demonstrated. This inflationary phase occurs without the need to introduce "ad hoc" additional fields or…
It is well known that enhancement in the primordial scalar perturbations over small scales generates detectable amplitudes of secondary gravitational waves (GWs), by sourcing the tensor perturbations at the second order. These stochastic…
We compute the model-independent contributions to the primordial bispectrum and trispectrum in de Sitter space due to high-energy physics. We do this by coupling a light inflaton to an auxiliary heavy field, and then evaluating correlation…
Noncommutative geometry can provide effective description of physics at very short distances taking into account generic effects of quantum gravity. Inflation amplifies tiny quantum fluctuations in the early universe to macroscopic scales…
We examine the effective theory of single-field inflation in the limit where the scalar perturbations propagate with a small speed of sound. In this case the non-linearly realized time-translation symmetry of the Lagrangian implies large…
We propose a new version of the hybrid inflation scenario that produces a significantly tilted n>1 spectrum of curvature perturbations. This may happen in supersymmetric models where the inflaton field acquires a mass proportional to the…
We study inflation driven by the Higgs field in the Einstein-Cartan formulation of gravity. In this theory, the presence of the Holst and Nieh-Yan terms with the Higgs field non-minimally coupled to them leads to three additional coupling…
We study the scalar-tensor-tensor non-Gaussian signal in an inflationary model comprising also an axion coupled with SU(2) gauge fields. In this set-up, metric fluctuations are sourced by the gauge fields already at the linear level…
Models of inflation where the entropic directions have large and negative masses $|m_s| \gg H$ can be well described by a single-field EFT with an imaginary sound speed $c_s$. Among other features, they predict an exponential enhancement of…
It is conjectured that inflation, taking account of quantum gravity, leads to a discrete spectrum of cosmological perturbations, instead of the continuous Gaussian spectrum predicted by standard field theory in an unquantized background.…
For very general scalar-field theories in which the equations of motion are at second-order, we evaluate the three-point correlation function of primordial scalar perturbations generated during inflation. We show that the shape of…
We explore a new class of supersymmetric models of inflation where the inflaton is realised as a combination of a Higgs field and (gauge non-singlet) matter fields, using a "tribrid" structure of the superpotential. Inflation is associated…
We study inflationary scenarios driven by a scalar field in the presence of a non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature. We show that the Friedmann equation can be significantly modified when the energy density during inflation…
We study the cosmology of the multifield relativistic Galileon model in which an induced gravity term is added to the Dirac-Born-Infeld action. We highlight the physical insight that is gained by employing a bimetric perspective in which…
Using numerical solutions of the full Einstein field equations coupled to a scalar inflaton field in 3+1 dimensions, we study the conditions under which a universe that is initially expanding, highly inhomogeneous and dominated by gradient…
This is a version of the author's Ph.D. thesis. The methods of effective field theory are used to study generic theories of inflation with a single inflaton field and to perform a general analysis of the associated non-Gaussianities. We…
We study the possibility that particle production during inflation could source observable gravity waves on scales relevant for Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. A crucial constraint on such scenarios arises because particle…
We consider a two component hybrid inflation model, in which two fields drive inflation. Our results show that this model generates an observable non-gaussian contribution to the curvature spectrum, within the limits allowed by the recent…