Related papers: An analytic approach to non-slow-roll inflation
Quantum fluctuations of an inflaton field, slow-rolling during inflation are coupled to metric fluctuations. In conventional four dimensional cosmology one can calculate the effect of scalar metric perturbations as slow-roll corrections to…
Until recently our knowledge of the primordial curvature perturbation was relatively modest. Ever since COBE delivered its map of data we know the scalar spectrum of primordial perturbations is approximately flat, with the power being only…
The slow roll approximation is studied for cosmological models in Hyperextended Scalar-Tensor Theories of Gravity. A procedure to obtain slow roll solutions in non-minimally coupled gravity is outlined and some examples are provided. An…
The Hamilton-Jacobi approach is a powerful tool to describe super-Hubble dynamics during cosmological inflation in a non-linear way. A key assumption of this framework is to neglect anisotropic perturbations on large scales. We show that…
While moving down the potential on its classical slow roll trajectory, the inflaton field is subject to quantum jumps, which take it up or down the potential at random. In "stochastic inflation", the impact of these quantum jumps is modeled…
We elucidate the counting of the relevant small parameters in inflationary perturbation theory. Doing this allows for an explicit delineation of the domain of validity of the semi-classical approximation to gravity used in the calculation…
We present a complete numerical treatment of inflationary dynamics under the influence of stochastic corrections from sub-Hubble modes. We discuss how to exactly model the stochastic noise terms arising from the sub-Hubble quantum modes…
Non-attractor inflation is known as the only single field inflationary scenario that can violate non-Gaussianity consistency relation with the Bunch-Davies vacuum state and generate large local non-Gaussianity. However, it is also known…
Stochastic inflation resolves primordial perturbations non-linearly, probing their probability distribution deep into its non-Gaussian tail. The strongest perturbations collapse into primordial black holes. In typical black-hole-producing…
The slow-roll approximation to inflation is ultimately justified by the presence of inflationary attractors for the orbits of the solutions of the dynamical equations in phase space. There are many indications that the inflaton field…
We conduct a thorough study of the comoving curvature perturbation $\mathcal{R}$ in single-field inflation with two stages, represented by a piecewise quadratic potential, where both the first and second derivatives are allowed to be…
The slow-roll field equations for the case of non-minimally coupled scalar fields are obtained in two ways: first using the direct generalization of slow-roll conditions in the minimal coupling case to non-minimal one; and, second,…
We present a detailed exposition on the prospects of the formation of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) during Slow Roll (SR) to Ultra Slow Roll (USR) sharp transitions in the framework of single-field inflation. We use an effective field…
The spectral index is studied at the point where scalar fields deviate from slow-roll during inflation. Considering the deviation that may cause a significant difference to the time derivative of the Hubble parameter and also to the terms…
We consider the classical wave equation with a thermal and Starobinsky-Vilenkin noise which in a slow-roll and long wave approximation describes the quantum fluctuations of the graviton-inflaton system in an expanding metric. We investigate…
The next generation of cosmic microwave background, gravitational wave, and large scale structure, experiments will provide an unprecedented opportunity to probe the primordial power spectrum on small scales. An exciting possibility for…
I describe a general approach to characterizing cosmological inflation outside the standard slow-roll approximation, based on the Hamilton-Jacobi formulation of scalar field dynamics. The basic idea is to view the equation of state of the…
We compare the standard single scalar field inflationary predictions with those of an inflationary phase driven by a tachyon field. A slow-roll formalism is defined for tachyon inflation and we derive the spectra of scalar and tensor…
The discovery of gravitational waves from merging binary black holes has generated considerable interest in examining whether these black holes could have a primordial origin. If a significant number of black holes have to be produced in…
We study models of modular inflation of the form expected to arise from low energy effective actions of superstring theories. We argue on general grounds that the most likely models of modular slow-roll inflation are small field models in…