Related papers: Constraints on features in the inflationary potent…
Inflation predicts a primordial gravitational wave spectrum that is slightly ``red,'' i.e., nearly scale-invariant with slowly increasing power at longer wavelengths. In this paper, we compute both the amplitude and spectral form of the…
Multifield models of inflation with nonminimal couplings are in excellent agreement with the recent results from {\it Planck}. Across a broad range of couplings and initial conditions, such models evolve along an effectively single-field…
The inflationary and pre-inflationary evolution of scalar modes of cosmological perturbations in a closed universe is analyzed for a loop quantum cosmology model with an inflationary regime consistent with the constraints on inflation…
In recent years, the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO and PTA collaborations have raised the intriguing possibility of excess matter power at small scales. Such an increase can be achieved by ultra slow roll (USR) phase during…
We have developed a precise dictionary between the spectrum of primordial density fluctuations and the parameters of the effective field theory (EFT) of inflation that determine the primordial power spectrum (PPS). At lowest order the EFT…
We explore the dynamics and observational predictions of the Warm Little Inflaton scenario, presently the simplest realization of warm inflation within a concrete quantum field theory construction. We consider three distinct types of scalar…
The BICEP2 collaboration reports a detection of primordial cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode with a tensor-scalar ratio $r=0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$ (68% C.L.). However, this result is in tension with the recent Planck limit, $r<0.11$…
If the inflaton potential has multiple minima, as may be expected in, e.g., the string theory "landscape", inflation predicts a probability distribution for the cosmological parameters describing spatial curvature (Omega_tot), dark energy…
A smooth inflaton potential is generally assumed when calculating the primordial power spectrum, implicitly assuming that a very small oscillation in the inflaton potential creates a negligible change in the predicted halo mass function. We…
[Abridged] The primordial scalar power spectrum is well constrained on large scales, primarily by the observations of the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Over the last few years, it has been recognized that a sharp…
We consider constraints on inflation driven by a single, minimally coupled scalar field in the light of the WMAP5 dataset, as well as ACBAR and the SuperNova Legacy Survey. We use the Slow Roll Reconstruction algorithm to derive optimal…
[Abridged] A variety of model-dependent as well as model-independent approaches suggest that certain localized features in the primordial scalar power spectrum can lead to a significantly better fit to the observed anisotropies in the…
We show that it is possible to combine an early phase of String Gas Cosmology which can explain the origin of the observed structures on cosmological scales with a short later period of power law inflation which creates spatial flatness.…
In this letter, we propose a model of inflationary cosmology with a bounce preceded and study its primordial curvature perturbations. Our model gives rise to a primordial power spectrum with a feature of oscillation on large scales compared…
The primordial power spectrum describes the initial perturbations in the Universe which eventually grew into the large-scale structure we observe today, and thereby provides an indirect probe of inflation or other structure-formation…
In this work, we constrain the spectral index $n_t$ of the primordial gravitational wave power spectrum in a universe with sterile neutrinos by using the Planck temperature data, the WMAP 9-year polarization data, the baryon acoustic…
We consider the spectrum of primordial fluctuations produced by inflationary models where the inflaton potential is the sum of two exponential terms. A wide range of spectra result, with the only constraint being that the scalar spectrum…
We investigate the ability to constrain oscillatory features in the primordial power spectrum using current and future cosmic microwave background observations. In particular, we study the observability of an oscillation arising from…
The vacuum inflation with a boundary condition specified at a short-distance scale in a generally primeval non-flat Universe, and implications of the correspondingly modified primordial power spectrum via the WMAP data are investigated. We…
Primordial magnetic fields are generated during inflation by considering actions that break the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic field. To break the conformal invariance, the electromagnetic fields are coupled either to the…