Related papers: Extended interactions in the Palatini-$R^2$ inflat…
Higgs inflation and $R^2$-inflation (Starobinsky model) are two limits of the same quantum model, hereafter called Starobinsky-Higgs. We analyse the two-loop action of the Higgs-like scalar $\phi$ in the presence of: 1) non-minimal coupling…
This paper contains a detailed study of the properties of a simple model attempting to explain dark energy as originated from quantum fluctuations of a light spectator scalar field in inflation. In [1] we recently outlined how Starobinsky's…
Light spectator fields may not be dynamically relevant for the inflationary phase of the early universe, but they can still induce interesting imprints on cosmological observables. In this paper, we compute the cross-correlations of the…
Models of cosmic inflation suggest that our universe underwent an early phase of accelerated expansion, driven by the dynamics of one or more scalar fields. Inflationary models make specific, quantitative predictions for several observable…
We consider the Chern--Simons term coupled to the inflaton in the Palatini formulation of general relativity. In contrast to the metric formulation, here the Chern--Simons term affects also the background evolution. We approximately solve…
We study the impact of higher dimension operators in the inflaton Lagrangian on the non-gaussianity of the scalar spectrum. These terms can strongly enhance the effect without spoiling slow-roll, though it is difficult to exceed f_NL ~ 1,…
The idea of the strongly interacting field theories constitutes one of the pillars of the standard model of particle physics. The goal of this work is to export such theories to cosmology. Here we are interested in models in which the…
We investigate inflationary particle production associated with a spectator ultralight scalar field, which has been recently proposed as a plausible dark matter candidate. In this framework, we select the Starobinsky potential to drive the…
We use a lattice simulation to study a model of axion inflation where the inflaton is coupled to a U(1) gauge field through Chern-Simons interaction. These kinds of models have already been studied with a lattice simulation in the context…
In this paper we wish to point out the possibility of using a complex scalar field in a constant roll inflationary model, as needed for observational viability. We extend the idea of real field inflaton with constant rate of roll to a…
Warm inflation is extended from the canonical field to the noncanonical field with a general Lagrangian density having coupling form of kinetic and potential terms. We develop the motion equation of the noncanonical inflaton field, and…
In previous work, two of us have proposed a model of inflationary magnetogenesis based on a rolling auxiliary field able both to account for the magnetic fields inferred by the (non) observation of gamma-rays from blazars, and to start the…
We prove that the stochastic and standard field-theoretical approaches produce exactly the same results for the amount of light massive scalar field fluctuations generated during inflation in the leading order of the slow-roll…
Based on a previously derived superstring model possessing a cosmological sector that mimics Starobinsky inflation, we analyze several questions addressed in the recent literature: the generation of an effective $R^2$-term, the stability of…
We consider the decay of the inflaton in Starobinsky-like models arising from either an $R+R^2$ theory of gravity or $N=1$ no-scale supergravity models. If Standard Model matter is simply introduced to the $R + R^2$ theory, the inflaton…
Higher-order theories of gravity are a branch of modified gravity wherein the geometrodynamics of the four-dimensional Riemannian manifold is determined by field equations involving derivatives of the metric tensor of order higher than two.…
The presence of scalar fields with non-minimal gravitational interactions of the form $\xi |\phi|^2 R$ may have important implications for the physics of the early universe. While many studies solve the dynamics of non-minimally coupled…
Slow-roll inflation can be studied as an effective field theory. The form of the inflaton potential consistent with the data is V(phi) = N M^4 w(phi/[sqrt{N} M_{Pl}]) where phi is the inflaton field, M is the inflation energy scale, and N ~…
In constant-roll inflation, the scalar field that drives the accelerated expansion of the Universe is rolling down its potential at a constant rate. Within this framework, we highlight the relations between the Hubble slow-roll parameters…
We derive an uncertainty relation for the energy density and pressure of a quantum scalar field in a time-dependent, homogeneous and isotropic, classical background, which implies the existence of large fluctuations comparable to their…