Related papers: Analytic infinite derivative gravity, $R^2$-like i…
In the context of metric-affine gravity theories, where the metric and connection are independent, we examine actions involving quadratic terms in the Ricci scalar curvature and the Holst invariant. These actions are non-minimally coupled…
We investigate the pre-inflationary dynamics of inflation with the Starobinsky potential, favored by recent data from the Planck mission, using techniques developed to study cosmological perturbations on quantum spacetimes in the framework…
We introduce a novel correlation, $n_s$ - $\Delta N$, connecting CMB parameters to the required total e-folds for eternal inflation. This correlation provides a robust tool for evaluating eternal (string) inflation models using CMB data and…
Cosmology appears as the most promising way to test and constrain quantum gravity theories. Loop quantum gravity is among the most advanced attempts to perform a non-perturbative quantization of general relativity. Its cosmological…
Classical and quantum gravitational instabilities, can, respectively, inflate and warm up a primordial Universe satisfying a superstring-motivated principle of "Asymptotic Past Triviality". A physically viable big bang is thus generated…
The instability of (quasi) de Sitter spacetime from quantum gravitational effects has been discussed in many works. Especially, the gravitational backreaction from quantum energy momentum tensor is crucial for understanding the low-energy…
We consider inflation driven by an axion-like particle coupled to an SU(2) gauge sector via a Chern-Simons term. Known as chromo-natural inflation, this scenario is in tension with CMB observations. In order to remedy this fact and preserve…
We propose a phenomenological approach to the cosmological constant problem based on generally covariant non-local and acausal modifications of four-dimensional gravity at enormous distances. The effective Newton constant becomes very small…
We propose an evolutional scenario of the universe which starts from quantum states with conformal invariance, passing through the inflationary era, and then makes transition to the conventional Einstein space-time. The space-time dynamics…
We investigate inflation within $f(R,\phi)$-theories, where a dynamical scalar field is coupled to gravity. A class of models which can support early-time acceleration with the emerging of an effective cosmological constant at high…
The basic workings of inflationary models are summarized, along with the arguments that strongly suggest that our universe is the product of inflation. I describe the quantum origin of density perturbations, giving a heuristic derivation of…
The shift-symmetric coupling of a pseudo-scalar particle driving inflation to gauge fields provides a unique way of probing cosmic inflation. We show for an SU(2) gauge group how a classical isotropic background gauge field develops from…
We study quantum gravity constraints on inflationary model building. Our approach is based on requiring the entropy associated to a given inflationary model to be less than that of the de Sitter entropy. We give two prescriptions for…
The predictions of the inflationary LCDM paradigm match today's high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy extremely well. The same data put tight limits on other sources of anisotropy. Cosmic strings are a…
We introduce conformal coupling of the Standard Model Higgs field to gravity and discuss the subsequent modification of $R^2$-inflation. The main observation is a lower temperature of reheating which happens mostly through scalaron decays…
On the one hand, inflation is an extremely convincing scenario: it solves most cosmological paradoxes and generates fluctuations that became the seeds for the growth of structures. It, however, suffers from a "naturalness" problem:…
We study symmetry-breaking inflation within the framework of metric-affine gravity. By introducing a non-minimal coupling, $\beta(\phi)\tilde{\cal R}$, between the Holst invariant and the inflaton, both small-field and large-field…
We propose a topological inflation model in the framework of supergravity with $R$ invariance. This topological inflation model is not only free from the initial value problem of the inflaton field but also gives low reheating temperature…
Longstanding anomalies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), including the low quadrupole moment and hemispherical power asymmetry, have recently been linked to an underlying parity asymmetry. We show here how this parity asymmetry…
A model of cosmological inflation is proposed in which field space is a hyperbolic plane. The inflaton never slow-rolls, and instead orbits the bottom of the potential, buoyed by a centrifugal force. Though initial velocities redshift away…