Related papers: Lowering tensor-to-scalar ratio by pre-inflationar…
Non-trivial inflaton self-interactions can yield calculable signatures of primordial non-Gaussianity that are measurable in cosmic surveys. Surprisingly, we find that the phase transition to slow-roll eternal inflation is often incalculable…
We discuss the implications of purely classical, instead of quantum, theory of gravity for the gravitational wave spectrum generated during inflation. We show that a positive detection of primordial gravitational waves will no longer…
Reheating after inflation can occur through inflaton decay or efficient parametric resonant production of particles from the oscillation of the inflaton. If the particles produced interact with scalars that were light during inflation, then…
Quantum gravitational back-reaction offers the potential of simultaneously resolving the problem of the cosmological constant and providing a natural model of inflation in which scalars play no special role. In this model inflation begins…
In the context of scalar-tensor theories of gravity we compute the third-order corrected spectral indices in the slow-roll approximation. The calculation is carried out by employing the Green's function method for scalar and tensor…
We present a two stage hybrid inflationary scenario in non-minimal supergravity which can predict values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio of the order of few times 0.01. For the parameters considered, the underlying supersymmetric particle…
In this paper, we explore a novel observational signature of gravitational corrections during slow-roll inflation. We study the coupling of the inflaton field to higher-curvature tensors in models with a minimal breaking of conformal…
During inflation, higher derivative terms in the gravitational action may play a significant role. Building on new stable formulations of four-derivative scalar-tensor theories, we study the impact of these corrections in the case where the…
In warm inflation, dissipation due to the interactions of the inflaton field to other light degrees of freedom leads naturally to the enhancement of the primordial spectrum during the last 10-20 efolds of inflation. We study this effect in…
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 effect of sudden transitions in the effective Planck mass during inflation on primordial power spectra. Specifically, we consider models in which this variation results from the non-minimal coupling of a Brans-Dicke type scalar…
In this work we determine the power spectrum of the gravitational potential of the primordial fluctuations for an inflationary model whose \emph{inflaton} is a non-canonical scalar field of the tachyon-type. The respective background field…
Large field inflation models are favored by the recent BICEP2 that has detected gravitational wave modes generated during inflation. We study general large field inflation models for which the potential contains (constant) quadratic and…
We revisit arguments that simple models of inflation with a small red tilt in the scalar power spectrum generically yield an observable tensor spectrum. We show that criteria for fine-tuning based upon the algebraic simplicity of the…
We investigate radiative corrections to the inflaton potential from heavy fields undergoing a fast-roll phase transition. We find that a logarithmic one-loop correction to the inflaton potential involving this field can induce a temporary…
We show that a detectable tensor-to-scalar ratio $(r\ge 10^{-3})$ on the CMB scale can be generated even during extremely low energy inflation which saturates the BBN bound $\rho_{\rm inf}\approx (30 {\rm MeV})^4$. The source of the…
We show that if inflation lasted just longer than the required 60 or so e-folds $N$ both scalar and tensor contributions to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) power spectra are expected to show a cut-off. However the behaviour of the…
It is shown that a tensor-to-scalar ratio close to r = 0.03, which can be observed by Planck, is realized in supersymmetric hybrid inflation models with TeV-scale soft supersymmetry breaking terms. This extends our previous analysis, which…
We consider an initial condition problem in a nearly quadratic chaotic inflation model in supergravity. We introduce shift symmetry breaking not only in the superpotential but also in the Kahler potential. In this model the inflaton…
We construct non-linear inflaton potential energy densities that describe not-necessarily very-slowly-rolling closed and open inflation models, and compute tilted primordial spatial inhomogeneity power spectra that follow from quantum…