Related papers: Light Fields during Inflation from BOSS and Future…
Planned efforts to probe the largest observable distance scales in future cosmological surveys are motivated by a desire to detect relic correlations left over from inflation, and the possibility of constraining novel gravitational…
Primordial non-Gaussianity signatures of extremely heavy particles are re-examined within a simple alternative to the standard inflationary paradigm, in which the primordial fluctuations and the inflationary spacetime expansion are sourced…
We argue that the typical energy density of a light scalar field should not be less than $H^4$ in the inflationary Universe. This requirement implies that the non-Gaussianity parameter $f_{NL}$ is typically bounded by the tensor-scalar…
The determination of the inflationary energy scale represents one of the first step towards the understanding of the early Universe physics. The (very mild) non-Gaussian signals that arise from any inflation model carry information about…
Massive fields during inflation provide an interesting opportunity to test new physics at very high energy scales. Meanwhile in fundamental realizations, the inflationary field space typically has a curved geometry, which may leave…
We study the possibility that particle production during inflation could source observable gravity waves on scales relevant for Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. A crucial constraint on such scenarios arises because particle…
The bispectrum will play an important role in future galaxy surveys. On large scales it is a key probe for measuring primordial non-Gaussianity which can help differentiate between different inflationary models and other theories of the…
(abridged) We explore the statistical properties of non-linear cosmic structures in a flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmology in which the index of the primordial power spectrum for scalar perturbations is allowed to depend on the scale. Within the…
In quasi single field inflation there are massive fields that interact with the inflaton field. If these other fields are not much heavier than the Hubble constant during inflation ($H$) these interactions can lead to important consequences…
We study the possibility of standard model Higgs boson acting as an inflaton field in the framework of Horava-Lifshitz Gravity. Under this framework, we showed that it is possible for the Higgs field to produce right amount of inflation and…
In inflationary scenarios with more than one scalar field, inflation may proceed even if each of the individual fields has a potential too steep for that field to sustain inflation on its own. We show that scalar fields with exponential…
We show, within the single-field inflationary paradigm, that a linear non-minimal interaction $\xi\,M_P\,\phi\,R$ between the inflaton field $\phi$ and the Ricci scalar $R$ can result in successful inflation that concludes with an efficient…
We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we…
We revisit the possibility of producing observable tensor modes through a continuous particle production process during inflation. Particularly, we focus on the multi-field realization of inflation where a spectator pseudo-scalar $\sigma$…
The reheating phase after inflation is one of the least observationally constrained epochs in the evolution of the Universe. The forthcoming gravitational wave observatories will enable us to constrain at least some of the non-standard…
We investigate the spectrum of gravitational waves arising from primordial inflation in the presence of a string-theoretical higher curvature correction, specifically, the Gauss-Bonnet coupling term for the inflaton (modulus) field. We show…
The representation theory of de Sitter space allows for a category of partially massless particles which have no flat space analog, but could have existed during inflation. We study the couplings of these exotic particles to inflationary…
Primordial non-Gaussianities from multi-field inflation are a leading target for cosmological observations, because of the possible large correlations generated between long and short distances. These signatures are captured by the local…
We study the inflationary model with a spectator scalar field $\chi$ coupled to both the inflaton and Ricci scalar. The interaction between the $\chi$ field and the gravity, denoted by $\xi R\chi^2$, can trigger the tachyonic instability of…
Cosmological implications of Higgs field fluctuations during inflation are considered. This study is based on the Standard Model and the standard quadratic model of chaotic inflation where the Higgs field is minimally coupled to gravity and…