Related papers: Dynamical synchronization, the horizon problem, an…
We derive a ``generic'' inhomogeneous ``bridge'' solution for a cosmological model in the presence of a real self-interacting scalar field. This solution connects a Kasner-like regime to an inflationary stage of evolution and therefore…
The universe we observe is homogeneous on super-horizon scales, leading to the ``cosmic homogeneity problem''. Inflation alleviates this problem but cannot solve it within the realm of conservative extrapolations of classical physics. A…
The pre-big bang scenario describes the evolution of the Universe from an initial state approaching the flat, cold, empty, string perturbative vacuum. The choice of such an initial state is suggested by the present state of our Universe if…
We discuss the interaction between perturbations in the inflaton and the background during the preheating phase in simple inflationary models. By numerically solving the Einstein field equations we are able to assess the impact of…
A variant of hybrid inflation which is applicable in a wide class of supersymmetric grand unified models and reproduces the observed temperature perturbations of cosmic background radiation with natural values of the parameters is…
We develop a potential-independent cosmographic framework, in which cosmographic parameters are promoted to dynamical variables within a closed autonomous system. Although the cosmographic hierarchy is formally infinite, we achieve closure…
In a previous paper we proposed a new approach to the beginning of inflation -- a lingering universe. The universe begins in a lingering state with a nearly vanishing Hubble parameter. This calls into question the absolute age of the…
This paper is the second of two papers devoted to the study of the evolution of the cosmological horizons (particle and event horizons). Specifically, in this paper we consider the extremely general case of an accelerated universe with…
We prove that in the Hartle-Hawking approach to quantum cosmology the existence of an inflationary phase is a general property of minisuperspace models given by a closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe containing a massless scalar field…
We study the effect on the primordial cosmological perturbations of a sharp transition from inflationary to a radiation and matter dominated epoch respectively. We assume that the perturbations are generated by the vacuum fluctuations of a…
These lecture notes intend to form a short pedagogical introduction to inflationary cosmology, highlighting selected areas of recent progress such as reheating and the theory of cosmological perturbations. Problems of principle for…
A string cosmology scenario ("pre-big-bang") postulates that the evolution of the Universe starts from a state of very small curvature and coupling, undergoes a long phase of dilaton-driven kinetic inflation and at some later time joins…
The relaxion scenario presents an intriguing extension of the standard model in which the particle introduced to solve to the strong CP problem, the axion, also achieves the dynamical relaxation of the Higgs boson mass term. In this work we…
We study the out-of-equilibrium nonlinear dynamics of fields after post-inflationary preheating. During preheating, the energy in the homogeneous inflaton is exponentially rapidly transfered into highly occupied out-of-equilibrium…
We investigate a generalized entropic cosmology obtained by applying the gravity-thermodynamics conjecture to the Universe horizon using Kaniadakis statistics, namely a relativistic extension of the standard Boltzmann--Gibbs formalism. The…
We show how the quantum to classical transition of the cosmological fluctuations produced during inflation can be described by means of the influence functional and the master equation. We split the inflaton field into the system-field…
The inflationary scenario has become the paradigm of early universe cosmology, and - in conjuction with ideas from superstring theory - has led to speculations about an "inflationary multiverse". From a point of view of phenomenology, the…
Inflation is terminated by a non-equilibrium process which finally leads to a thermal state. We study the onset of this transition in a class of hybrid inflation models. The exponential growth of tachyonic modes leads to decoherence and…
I demonstrate that instability in a system of homogeneous scalar fields leads to the growth of super-Hubble metric perturbations. This generalizes the result that parametric resonance can lead to the growth of cosmological perturbations.…
We study how the initial inhomogeneities of the spatial curvature affect the onset of inflation in the closed universe. We consider a cosmological model which contains a radiation and a cosmological constant. In order to treat the…