Related papers: Cosmological Collider Physics and the Curvaton
We perform a combined perturbation and observational investigation of the scenario of non-minimal derivative coupling between a scalar field and curvature. First we extract the necessary condition that ensures the absence of instabilities,…
The accelerated expansion of the early universe is an integral part of modern cosmology and dynamically realized by the mechanism of inflation. The simplest theoretical description of the inflationary paradigm is based on the assumption of…
The isotropy and homogeneity of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) favors "scalar driven" early Universe inflationary models. Non-scalar fields, and in particular gauge fields, are on the other hand commonplace in all high energy…
Inflation in the early Universe is one of the most promising probes of gravity in the high-energy regime. However, observable scales give access to a limited window in the inflationary dynamics. In this essay, we argue that quantum…
In construction of an inflationary model, one usually assumes that the matter sector of the gravitational action is minimally coupled to the background. It means that the matter (inflaton) part of the action is coupled with the same metric…
We have studied modulated inflation that generates curvature perturbation from light-field fluctuation. As discussed in previous works, even if the fluctuation of the inflaton itself does not generate the curvature perturbation at the…
Recent studies of inflation with multiple scalar fields have highlighted the importance of non-canonical kinetic terms in novel types of inflationary solutions. This motivates a thorough analysis of non-Gaussianities in this context, which…
We investigate the primordial non-Gaussianities from the trispectra in multi-field inflation models, which can be seen as generalization of multi-field $k$-inflation and multi-DBI inflation. We derive the full fourth-order perturbation…
We propose a possible quantum signature of the early Universe that could lead to observational imprints of the quantum nature of the inflationary period. Graviton production in the presence of an inflaton scalar field results in entangled…
We review some theoretical and statistical aspects of the origin of the large-scale structure in the Universe, in view of the two most widely known and accepted scenarios: the inflaton and the curvaton scenarios. Among the theoretical…
In quasi-single field inflation models, massive isocurvature modes, that are coupled to the inflaton and have mass of order the Hubble parameter, can have nontrivial impacts on density perturbations, especially non-Gaussianities. We study a…
We compute analytic expressions for the non-linearity parameters characterizing the bi- and tri-spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations generated during an inflationary epoch of the early universe driven by an arbitrary number of…
Speed matters. How the masses and spins of new particles active during inflation can be read off from the statistical properties of primordial density fluctuations is well understood. However, not when the propagation speeds of the new…
We consider contributions to non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from remnants of post-inflationary phase transitions in the very early universe. Such signatures can optimistically be used to discover evidence of new…
We study an inflationary scenario where thermal inflation is followed by fast-roll inflation. This is a rather generic possibility based on the effective potentials of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the context of particle physics models.…
We follow the evolution of the curvaton on superhorizon scales and check that the spectral tilt of the curvaton perturbations is unchanged as the curvaton becomes non-relativistic. Both inflation and pre-big bang cosmology can be treated…
We study the hybrid inflationary potential in a regime where the defect field is light, and more than 60 e-folds of accelerated expansion occur after the symmetry breaking transition. Using analytic and numerical techniques, we then…
The cosmological collider provides a model-independent probe of particle physics during inflation. We extend the study of cosmological collider physics to much smaller scales through gravitational wave (GW) probes. With a Chern-Simons…
Primordial non-Gaussianity is generated by interactions of the inflaton field, either self-interactions or couplings to other sectors. These two physically different mechanisms can lead to nearly indistinguishable bispectra of the…
In a variety of 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. Such models have attracted interest recently for a…