Related papers: Probing the initial state of inflation: analytical…
We investigate the initial conditions of inflation in a Bianchi~I universe that is homogeneous but not isotropic. We use the Eisenhart lift to describe such a theory geometrically as geodesics on a field space manifold. We construct the…
Recent observations about the cosmic microwave background evidence a clear discrepancy between the scale of inflation and the Planck scale expected in the conventional inflationary picture, based on simple chaotic inflationary models. This…
We theoretically and observationally investigate different choices of initial conditions for the primordial mode function that are imposed during an epoch preceding inflation. By deriving predictions for the observables resulting from…
A formula for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations having any initial conditions in inflation is obtained. Based on the physical conditions before inflation, the possibility exists that the initial state of scalar perturbations is…
In the presence of a short-distance cutoff, the choice of a vacuum state in an inflating, non-de Sitter universe is unavoidably ambiguous. The ambiguity is related to the time at which initial conditions for the mode functions are specified…
Speed matters. How the masses and spins of new particles active during inflation can be read off from the statistical properties of primordial density fluctuations is well understood. However, not when the propagation speeds of the new…
How sensitive are the predictions of inflation to pre-inflationary conditions when the number of efolds of inflation is not too large? In an attempt to address this question, we consider a simple model where the inflationary era is preceded…
We investigate the circumstances under which cosmic inflation can arise from very inhomogeneous initial conditions using numerical relativity simulations. Previous studies have not considered cases with non-zero momentum density due to…
We investigate the phenomenological consequences of a modification of the initial state of a single inflationary field. While single-field inflation with the standard Bunch-Davies initial vacuum state does not generally produce a measurable…
There exist a one complex parameter family of de Sitter invariant vacua, known as alpha vacua. In the context of slow roll inflation, we show that all but the Bunch-Davies vacuum generates unacceptable production of high energy particles at…
Within the framework of inflationary models that incorporate a spontaneous reduction of the wave function for the emergence of the seeds of cosmic structure, we study the effects on the primordial scalar power spectrum by choosing a novel…
We investigate the entanglement due to geometric corrections in particle creation during inflation. To do so, we propose a single-field inflationary scenario, nonminimally coupled to the scalar curvature of spacetime. We require particle…
In a variety of inflation models the motion of the inflaton may trigger the production of some non-inflaton particles during inflation, for example via parametric resonance or a phase transition. Particle production during inflation leads…
We use the techniques of effective field theory in an expanding universe to examine the effect of choosing an excited inflationary initial state built over the Bunch-Davies state on the CMB bi-spectrum. We find that even for Hadamard…
We compute correlation functions of the primordial density perturbations when they couple to a gapless, strongly coupled sector of spectator fields -- ``unparticles" -- during inflation. We first derive a four-point function of conformally…
We show that it is possible to simulate realistic inhomogeneities during cosmological inflation with high precision using {Numerical Relativity}. Stochastic initial conditions are set in line with the Bunch-Davies {vacuum} and satisfy the…
We propose a new scenario for early cosmology, where inflationary de Sitter phase dynamically occurs. The effect emerges as a result of dynamics of the topologically nontrivial sectors in expanding universe. Technically the effect can be…
We consider the behaviour of a quintessence field during an inflationary epoch, in order to learn how inflation influences the likely initial conditions for quintessence. We use the stochastic inflation formalism to study quantum…
We present a model of inflation where the inflaton is accommodated as a phantom field which exhibits an initial transient pole behavior and then decays into a quintessence field which is responsible for a radiation era. We must stress that…
This thesis is dedicated to analysing the generation and destruction of quantum correlations in the context of inflationary cosmology and an experiment of 'analogue' preheating. Inflation is a phase of accelerated expansion of the Universe,…