Related papers: The Separate Universe approach for multifield infl…
In this article we extend a study of the validity conditions of the separate-universe approach of cosmological perturbations to models of inflation with multiple fields. The separate-universe approach consists in describing the universe as…
The separate-universe approach gives an intuitive way to understand the evolution of cosmological perturbations in the long-wavelength limit. It uses solutions of the spatially-homogeneous equations of motion to model the evolution of the…
We present a review on the state-of-the-art of the mathematical framework known as stochastic inflation, paying special attention to its derivation and giving references for the readers interested on results coming from the application of…
Certain models of cosmic inflation produce strong cosmological perturbations at short length scales, which may later collapse into primordial black holes. To find the statistics of these strong perturbations and the ensuing black holes, it…
While cosmological inflation can erase primordial inhomogeneities, it is possible that inflation may not begin in a significantly inhomogeneous universe. This issue is particularly pressing in multifield scenarios, where even the…
Cosmic inflation is arguably the most favoured paradigm of the very early Universe. It postulates an early phase of fast, nearly exponential, and accelerated expansion. Inflationary models are capable of explaining the overall flatness and…
During inflation, vacuum quantum fluctuations are amplified and stretched to astrophysical distances. They give rise to fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarisation, and to large-scale structures in our…
Stochastic inflation rests on the separate-universe approximation, i.e. the ability to describe long-wavelength fluctuations in an inflating universe as homogeneous perturbations of its background dynamics. Although this approximation is…
We review conceptual aspects of inflationary scenarios able to produce primordial black holes, by amplifying the size of curvature fluctuations to the level required for triggering black hole formation. We identify general mechanisms to do…
The dynamics of preheating after inflation has not been clearly understood yet.In particular, the issue of the generation of metric perturbations during preheating on super-horizon scale is still unsettled. Large scale perturbations may…
This thesis is dedicated to studying cosmological inflation, which is a period of accelerated expansion in the very early Universe that is required to explain the observed anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Inflation, when…
In this work, we investigate the generation of primordial black holes (PBHs) within the framework of single-field inflationary models and their compatibility with the cosmological history of the Universe. Our results suggest that, depending…
Inflation models are numerous. It is extremely difficult, if possible at all, to identify the actual underlying inflation model of our primordial universe. Thus, for the purpose of proving/falsifying inflation and using inflation to probe…
We develop in this thesis the principles governing the production of our universe's primordial inhomogeneities during its early phase of inflation. As a guiding thread we ask what physics during inflation can lead to perturbations so large…
The separate-universe approach provides an effective description of cosmological perturbations at large scales, where the universe can be described by an ensemble of independent, locally homogeneous and isotropic patches. By reducing the…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) can be produced from inflation if the primordial curvature power spectrum is strongly enhanced on scales much shorter than those probed by cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. In single-field models…
We investigate the circumstances under which cosmic inflation can arise from very inhomogeneous initial conditions using numerical relativity simulations. Previous studies have not considered cases with non-zero momentum density due to…
We investigate the production of primordial black holes and their contribution to the presently observed dark matter in a dilaton two-field extension of Starobinsky's quadratic $f(R)$ model of inflation. The model features a multi-field…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) provide an exciting prospect for accounting for dark matter. In this paper, we consider inflationary models that incorporate realistic features from high-energy physics -- including multiple interacting scalar…
The effect of large quantum fluctuations on primordial black-hole formation during an inflationary phase along a plateau is investigated. By using techniques of stochastic inflation in combination with replica field theory and the…