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Inflation offers a simple model for very early evolution of our Universe and the origin of primordial perturbations on large scales. Over the last 25 years we have become familiar with the predictions of single-field models, but inflation…
We study non-linear primordial adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations and their non-Gaussianity. After giving a general formulation in the context of an extended delta N-formalism, we analyse in detail two illustrative examples. The first…
The squeezed limit of the primordial curvature bispectrum is an extremely sensitive probe of new physics and encodes information about additional fields active during inflation such as their masses and spins. In the conventional setup,…
The interplay between string theory and early-universe cosmology offers promising avenues to explore high-energy regimes where the standard single-field slow-roll model may no longer provide an accurate description. One intriguing scenario…
Inflationary predictions for the power spectrum of the curvature perturbation have been verified to an excellent degree, leaving many models compatible with observations. In this thesis we studied third-order correlations, that might allow…
Previously defined covariant and gauge-invariant perturbation variables, representing, e.g., the fractional spatial energy density gradient on hypersurfaces of constant expansion, are used to simplify the linear perturbation analysis of a…
We propose an inflationary scenario inspired by a recent formulation, in terms of coherent states, of non-commutative quantum field theory. We consider the semiclassical Einstein equations, and we exploit the ultraviolet finiteness of the…
We consider the UV-protected inflation, where the inflaton potential is obtained by quantum (one-loop) breaking of a global symmetry into a discrete symmetry. In this model, all coupling scales are sub-Planckian. This is achieved by…
Inflationary scenarios motivated by high-energy physics generically contain a plethora of degrees of freedom beyond the primordial curvature perturbation. The latter interacts in a simple way with what we name "inflationary flavor…
We investigate the possibility that a heavy scalar field, whose mass exceeds the Hubble scale during inflation, could leave non-negligible signatures in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum through the…
Correlators of primordial perturbations could provide us with the signatures of physics at earlier times/higher momentum scales than inflation. The key-mechanisms are the interference and cumulation in time related to the interplay of…
The presence of multiple fields during inflation might seed a detectable amount of non-Gaussianity in the curvature perturbations, which in turn becomes observable in present data sets like the cosmic microwave background (CMB) or the large…
Massive particles produced during inflation leave specific signatures in soft limits of correlation functions of primordial fluctuations. When the Goldstone boson of broken time translations acquires a reduced speed of sound, implying that…
Non-analyticity in co-moving momenta within the non-Gaussian bispectrum is a distinctive sign of on-shell particle production during inflation, presenting a unique opportunity for the "direct detection" of particles with masses as large as…
We investigate the cosmological model with complex scalar self-interacting inflaton field non-minimally coupled to gravity. The different geometries of the Euclidean classically forbidden regions are represented. The instanton solutions of…
In this paper, inflationary cosmology is reviewed, paying particular attention to its observational signatures associated with large-scale density perturbations generated from quantum fluctuations. In the most general scalar-tensor theories…
In a variety of inflation models the motion of the inflaton may trigger the production of some non-inflaton particles during inflation, for example via parametric resonance or a phase transition. Particle production during inflation leads…
We investigate thermal inflation in double-screen entropic cosmology. We find that its realization is general, resulting from the system evolution from non-equilibrium to equilibrium. Furthermore, going beyond the background evolution, we…
We investigate the cosmological model with the complex scalar self-interacting inflaton field non-minimally coupled to gravity. The different geometries of the Euclidean classically forbidden regions are represented. The instanton solutions…
Inflationary cosmology proposes that the early Universe undergoes accelerated expansion, driven, in simple scenarios, by a single scalar field, or inflaton. The form of the inflaton potential determines the initial spectra of density…