Related papers: Probing inflationary moduli space with gravitation…
We calculate the spectrum of gravitational waves generated during inflation in open $(\Omega _0<1)$ inflationary models. In such models an initial epoch of old inflation solves the horizon and flatness problems, and during this first epoch…
We introduce a simple string model of inflation, in which the inflaton field can take trans-Planckian values while driving a period of slow-roll inflation. This leads naturally to a realisation of large field inflation, inasmuch as the…
A scalar Higgs field can be repeatedly switched on and off when it couples to a classically oscillating scalar modulus field. The modulus flips the Higgs mass term between stable and tachyonic values. We study a cosmological scenario in…
Inflationary models including vector fields have attracted a great deal of attention over the past decade. Such an interest owes to the fact that they might contribute to, or even be fully responsible for, the curvature perturbation…
We show that in multi-stage axion monodromy inflation an interruption near the end of the penultimate stage can lead to a spike in the gravitational wave background. These gravitational waves are in the frequency range and with an amplitude…
We consider the influence of mode - mode coupling in the inflaton field on the spectrum of primordial fluctuations. To this end, we formulate a phenomenological model where the inflaton fluctuations are treated as a fluid undergoing…
Inflationary cosmology is successful in explaining a number of outstanding cosmological issues including the flatness, the horizon and the relic issues. More spectacular is the experimental confirmation of the structure as arose from the…
We consider cosmology with an inflaton scalar field with an additional quartic kinetic term. Such a theory can be motivated by Palatini $R+R^2$ modified gravity. Assuming a runaway inflaton potential, we take the Universe to become…
In many models of inflation, the period of accelerated expansion ends with preheating, a highly non-thermal phase of evolution during which the inflaton pumps energy into a specific set of momentum modes of field(s) to which it is coupled.…
We show that it is possible to combine an early phase of String Gas Cosmology which can explain the origin of the observed structures on cosmological scales with a short later period of power law inflation which creates spatial flatness.…
We investigate density fluctuations and scalar-induced gravitational waves (GWs) arising from the production of long-lived solitons and oscillons, which can dominate the early Universe and drive reheating prior to the standard…
We study the statistical nature of primordial fluctuations from an anisotropic inflation which is realized by a vector field coupled to an inflaton. We find a suitable gauge, which we call the canonical gauge, for anisotropic inflation by…
We develop a string-motivated dynamical Gauss--Bonnet completion of Starobinsky inflation. Since a constant Gauss--Bonnet term is topological in four dimensions, observable effects must arise from a modulus, dilaton, or compactification…
We explore the cosmological and astrophysical implications of a realistic hybrid inflation model based on flipped $SU(5)$. The model contains superheavy metastable cosmic strings arising from a waterfall field that encounters a limited…
We study the evolution of gravitational waves through the preheating era that follows inflation. The oscillating inflaton drives parametric resonant growth of scalar field fluctuations, and although super-Hubble tensor modes are not…
In this paper we consider inflation as a probe of new physics near the string or Planck scale. We discuss how new physics can be captured by the choice of vacuum, and how this leads to modifications of the primordial spectrum as well as the…
We propose a novel mechanism for enhancing the primordial gravitational waves without significantly affecting the curvature perturbations produced during inflation. This is achieved due to non-linear sourcing of resonantly amplified scalar…
In the context of Quantum Cosmology and the Wheeler-DeWitt equation we investigate the possible effects of a non semiclassical wave-function of the universe on the evolution of the inflationary perturbations. These are associated with the…
This paper investigates the effects of nonvanishing spatial curvature on the propagation of primordial gravitational waves produced during inflation. In particular, we consider tensor perturbations over a homogeneous and isotropic…
After inflation, a period of preheating may have produced a stochastic background of high frequency gravitational waves (GWs) that would persist until today. The nature of the inflaton's coupling to Standard Model or other fields is…