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In most inflationary models, space-time inflated to the extent that modes of cosmological size originated as modes of wavelengths at least several orders of magnitude smaller than the Planck length. Recent studies confirmed that, therefore,…
In most current models of inflation based on a weakly self-coupled scalar matter field minimally coupled to gravity, the period of inflation lasts so long that, at the beginning of the inflationary period, the physical wavelengths of…
The implementation of a Planck-scale high frequency and short wavelength cutoff in quantum theories on expanding backgrounds may have potentially nontrivial implications, such as the breaking of local Lorentz invariance and the existence of…
Inflation is most often described using quantum field theory (QFT) on a fixed, curved spacetime background. Such a description is valid only if the spatial volume of the region considered is so large that its size and shape moduli behave…
Based on the recently introduced black-bounce spacetimes, we shall consider the construction of the related spherically symmetric thin-shell traversable wormholes within the context of standard general relativity. All of the really unusual…
We extend to multidimensional cosmology Vilenkin's prescription of tunnelling from nothing for the quantum origin of the observable Universe. Our model consists of a $D+4$-dimensional spacetime of topology ${\cal R}\times {\cal S}^3…
We show how certain types of magnetic asymptotically Anti-de Sitter Euclidean wormholes can catalyze the onset of inflation. These wormholes can be embedded as saddle point solutions of General Relativity coupled to the Standard Model, the…
A simple model of spacetime foam, made by spherically symmetric wormholes, with or without a cosmological term is proposed. The black hole area quantization and its consequences are examined in this context. We open the possibility of…
I present a very simplistic toy model for the inflationary paradigm where the size of the universe undergoes a period of exponential growth. The basic assumption I make use of is that black holes might have a quantized area (mass) spectrum…
Cosmic Inflation provides an attractive framework for understanding the early universe and the cosmic microwave background. It can readily involve energies close to the scale at which Quantum Gravity effects become important. General…
We investigate a particle physics model for cosmic inflation based on the following assumptions: (i) there are at least two complex scalar fields; (ii) the scalar potential is bounded from below and remains perturbative up to the Planck…
The viability of a given model for inflation is determined not only by the form of the inflaton potential, but also by the initial inflaton field configuration. In many models, field configurations which are otherwise well-motivated…
Inflation is the currently accepted paradigm for the beginnings of the Universe. To explain the observed almost scale invariant spectrum of density perturbations with only a slight spectral tilt, inflation must have been "slow roll", that…
The braneworld model, in which our Universe is a three-brane embedded in a five-dimensional bulk, allows the existence of wormholes, without any violation of the energy conditions. A fundamental ingredient of traversable wormholes is the…
Since the standard inflationary paradigm is based on quantum field theory on classical space-times, it excludes the Planck era. Using techniques from loop quantum gravity, the paradigm is extended to a self-consistent theory from the Planck…
A simple model of spacetime foam, made by $N$ wormholes in a semiclassical approximation, is taken under examination. We show that the qualitative behaviour of the fluctuation of the metric conjectured by Wheeler is here reproduced.
We numerically construct a symmetric wormhole solution in pure Einstein gravity supported by a massive $3$-form field with a potential that contains a quartic self-interaction term. The wormhole spacetimes have only a single throat and they…
We numerically study the dynamics of false vacuum bubbles which are inside an almost flat background; we assumed spherical symmetry and the size of the bubble is smaller than the size of the background horizon. According to the thin shell…
We argue that the emergent spacetime picture admits a background-independent formulation of cosmic inflation. The inflation in this picture corresponds to the dynamical emergence of spacetime while the conventional inflation is simply an…
In generic models of cosmological inflation, quantum fluctuations strongly influence the spacetime metric and produce infinitely many regions where the end of inflation (reheating) is delayed until arbitrarily late times. The geometry of…