Related papers: Present limits to cosmic bubbles from the COBE-DMR…
New Ekpyrotic Cosmology is an alternative scenario of the early universe which relies on a phase of slow contraction before the big bang. We calculate the 3-point and 4-point correlation functions of primordial density perturbations and…
In the context of the open inflationary universe, we calculate the amplitude of quantum fluctuations which deform the bubble shape. These give rise to scalar field fluctuations in the open Friedman-Robertson-Walker universe which is…
We study bubble-wall dynamics in cosmological first-order phase transitions in a two-scalar-field model, where the wall is formed by $\phi$ and an additional real scalar $s$ couples through a portal interaction. We evolve the coupled…
Noncommutative geometry can provide effective description of physics at very short distances taking into account generic effects of quantum gravity. Inflation amplifies tiny quantum fluctuations in the early universe to macroscopic scales…
We predict the imprint of linear bubbly perturbations on the polarization and temperature anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We analytically model a bubbly density perturbation at the beginning of the radiation dominated…
A B-mode polarization signal in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is widely regarded as smoking gun evidence for gravitational waves produced during inflation. Here, we demonstrate that tensor perturbations sourced during…
We investigate a new mechanism for the cosmological QCD phase transition: inhomogeneous nucleation. The primordial temperature fluctuations, measured to be $\delta T/T \sim 10^{-5}$, are larger than the tiny temperature interval, in which…
These notes present a detailed introduction to Maldacena's calculation of the three-point function generated by the simplest class of inflationary models: those with a single inflaton field whose potential satisfies the slow-roll conditions…
We consider first order cosmological phase transitions (PT) happening at late times, below Standard Model (SM) temperatures $T_{\rm PT} \lesssim$ GeV. The inherently stochastic nature of bubble nucleation and the finite number of bubbles…
The squeezed limit of the three-point function of cosmological perturbations is a powerful discriminant of different models of the early Universe. We present a conceptually simple and complete framework to relate any primordial bispectrum…
We compute the three-point temperature correlation function of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) two-year sky maps to search for evidence of non-Gaussian temperature fluctuations. We detect three-point correlations in our sky…
We analyze constraints on parameters characterizing the pre-inflating universe in an open inflation model with a present slightly open $\Lambda$CDM universe. We employ an analytic model to show that for a broad class of inflation-generating…
We present preliminary results of an analysis into the effects of primordial voids on the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We show that an inflationary bubble model of void formation predicts excess power in the CMB angular power spectrum…
We study the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations non-gaussianity due to the vector mode perturbations (Alfv\'en waves) supported by a stochastic cosmological magnetic field. We present detailed derivations of the…
We consider contributions to non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from remnants of post-inflationary phase transitions in the very early universe. Such signatures can optimistically be used to discover evidence of new…
Cosmological Collider Physics gives us the opportunity to probe high-energy physics from observing the spacetime fluctuations generated during inflation imprinted on the cosmic microwave background. In other words, it is a method to…
We analyze the consequences of models of structure formation for higher-order ($n$-point) galaxy correlation functions in the mildly non-linear regime. Several variations of the standard $\Omega=1$ cold dark matter model with…
The spatial curvature of the universe is not yet known. Even though at present the Universe is very close to being essentially flat and most signatures of curvature appear to have been diluted by inflation, if the number of e-foldings…
We develop a set of controlled, analytic approximations to study the effects of bubble collisions on cosmology. We expand the initial perturbation to the inflaton field caused by the collision in a general power series, and determine its…
In a variety of inflation models the motion of the inflaton may trigger the production of some non-inflaton particles during inflation, for example via parametric resonance or a phase transition. Particle production during inflation leads…