Related papers: On unitarity in singlet inflation with a non-minim…
We consider the dynamics of power-law inflation with a nonminimally coupled scalar field $\phi$. It is well known that multiple scalar fields with exponential potentials $V(\phi)=V_0 {\rm exp}(-\sqrt{16\pi/p m_{\rm pl}^2} \phi)$ lead to an…
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…
In models of coupled dark energy, in which a dark energy scalar field couples to other matter components, it is natural to expect a coupling to the inflaton as well. We explore the consequences of such a coupling in the context of single…
In this letter we show that there is a unique non-minimal derivative coupling of the Standard Model Higgs boson to gravity such that: it propagates no more degrees of freedom than General Relativity sourced by a scalar field, reproduces a…
This is the first of a three-part series of papers, in which we study the preheating phase for multifield models of inflation involving nonminimal couplings. In this paper, we study the single-field attractor behavior that these models…
Realistic models of particle physics include many scalar fields. These fields generically have nonminimal couplings to the Ricci curvature scalar, either as part of a generalized Einstein theory or as necessary counterterms for…
We study a singlet scalar extension of the Standard Model. The singlet scalar is coupled non-minimally to gravity and assumed to drive inflation, and also couple sufficiently strongly with the SM Higgs field in order to provide for a strong…
We consider a simple extension of the Standard Model Higgs inflation with one new real scalar field which preserves unitarity up to the Planck scale. The new scalar field (called sigma) completes in the ultraviolet the theory of Higgs…
We study inflationary models in which the effective potential of the inflaton field does not have a minimum, but rather gradually decreases at large $\phi$. In such models the inflaton field does not oscillate after inflation, and its…
We consider the embedding of Higgs inflation with a non-minimal coupling into the Weyl gravity. In this model, the effective current-current interactions from the heavy Weyl gauge field cancel the non-canonical Higgs kinetic term in…
We consider the non-Gaussianity of the nonlinear density perturbations in a single-field inflationary model when a scalar field couples nonminimally with gravity. Gravity theories with a nonminimal coupling can be transformed into the…
The large value of non-minimal coupling constant $\xi$ required to satisfy CMB observations in Higgs inflation violates unitarity. In this work we study Higgs-inflation with non-canonical kinetic term of DBI form to find whether $\xi$ can…
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…
An oscillating inflaton field induces small amplitude oscillations of the Hubble parameter at the end of inflation. These Hubble parameter induced oscillations, in turn, trigger parametric particle production of all light fields, even if…
We examine an intriguing possibility that a single field is responsible for both inflation and dark matter, focussing on the minimal set-up where inflation is driven by a scalar coupling to curvature. We study in detail the reheating…
We have conducted extensive lattice simulations to study the post-inflation dynamics of multifield models involving nonminimal couplings. We explore the parameter dependence of preheating in these models and describe the various time-scales…
Attempts at building an unified description of the strong, weak and electromagnetic interactions usually involve several stages of spontaneous symmetry breaking. We consider the effects of such symmetry breaking during an era of primordial…
We study cosmological dynamics of a generalized Higgs inflation. By expanding the action up to the second and third order in the small perturbations, we study the primordial perturbation and its non-Gaussian distribution. We study the…
We study the perspectives to extract information about the microphysical parameters that governed the reheating process after cosmic inflation from CMB data. We identify conditions under which the inflaton coupling to other fields can be…
We revisit the efficiency of Schwinger mechanism in creating charged pairs during inflation. We consider a minimal setup of inflation in which the inflaton field is a complex scalar field charged under a $U(1)$ gauge field. There is a time…