Related papers: Spectral Distortion Signatures of Step-like Inflat…
We study single-field inflationary models with steep step-like features in the potential that lead to the temporary violation of the slow-roll conditions during the evolution of the inflaton. These features enhance the power spectrum of the…
The next generation of cosmic microwave background, gravitational wave, and large scale structure, experiments will provide an unprecedented opportunity to probe the primordial power spectrum on small scales. An exciting possibility for…
We use a numerical code to compute the density perturbations generated during an inflationary epoch which includes a spontaneous symmetry breaking phase transition. A sharp step in the inflaton potential generates $k$ dependent oscillations…
Measuring spectral distortions (SDs) of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) will provide new constraints on previously unexplored scales of the primordial power spectrum, allowing us to extend the probed parameter space by several orders…
We extend and improve the modeling and analysis of large-amplitude, sharp inflationary steps for second order corrections required by the precision of the Planck CMB power spectrum and for arbitrary Dirac-Born-Infeld sound speed. With two…
Using the most recent data from the WMAP, ACT and SPT experiments, we update the constraints on models with oscillatory features in the primordial power spectrum of scalar perturbations. This kind of features can appear in models of…
A sudden small change in the second derivative of the inflaton potential can result in a universal local feature in the spectrum of primordial perturbations generated during inflation. The exact solution describing this feature \cite{minu}…
Certain oscillatory features in the primordial scalar power spectrum are known to provide a better fit to the outliers in the cosmic microwave background data near the multipole moments of $\ell=22$ and 40. These features are usually…
We perform a Bayesian analysis to study possible features in the primordial inflationary power spectrum of scalar perturbations. In particular, we analyse the possibility of detecting the imprint of these primordial features in the…
A model is developed in which the inflaton potential experiences a sudden small change in its second derivative (the effective mass of the inflaton). An exact treatment demonstrates that the resulting density perturbation has a quasi-flat…
We update the constraints on possible features in the primordial inflationary density perturbation spectrum by using the latest data from the WMAP7 and ACT Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. The inclusion of new data significantly…
We describe models of single-field inflation with small and sharp step features in the potential (and sound speed) of the inflaton field, in the context of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation. This approach allows us to study the…
We provide analytic solutions for the power spectrum and bispectrum of curvature fluctuations produced by a step feature in the inflaton potential, valid in the limit that the step is short and sharp. In this limit, the bispectrum is…
The new three year WMAP data seem to confirm the presence of non-standard large scale features in the Cosmic Microwave Anisotropies power spectrum. While these features may hint at uncorrected experimental systematics, it is also possible…
Well-known causality arguments show that events occurring during or at the end of inflation, associated with reheating or preheating, could contribute a blue component to the spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations, with the…
Single field inflationary models that seek to greatly enhance small scale power in order to form primordial black holes predict both a squeezed bispectrum that is enhanced by this small scale power and a potentially detectable enhancement…
The effect of the initial condition of inflation on the power spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations is estimated assuming a slow-roll inflation model. By defining a more general initial state in inflation particular properties of the…
We revisit the problem of constraining steps in the inflationary potential with cosmological data. We argue that a step in the inflationary potential produces qualitatively similar oscillations in the primordial power spectrum,…
We investigate the ability of current CMB data to reliably constrain the form of the primordial power spectrum generated during inflation. We attempt to identify more exotic power spectra that yield equally good fits to the data as simple…
Thermal inflation is a second epoch of exponential expansion at typical energy scales $V^{1/4} \sim 10^{6 \sim 8} \mathrm{GeV}$. If the usual primordial inflation is followed by thermal inflation, the primordial power spectrum is only…