Related papers: Scale Dependent Spectral Index in Slow Roll Inflat…
We provide a formula for the scaling behaviour of the inflationary bispectrum in the 'squeezed' limit where one momentum becomes much smaller than the other two. This determines the scaling of the halo bias at low wavenumber and will be an…
If a coupling between the inflaton and the Gauss-Bonnet term is introduced, many models of inflation that were ruled out by the most recent Planck data can be made viable again. The predictions for the scalar spectral index and…
The large-scale structure of the universe suggests that the physics underlying its early evolution is scale-free. This was the historic motivation for the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles spectrum and for inflation. Based on a hydrodynamical…
A smooth inflaton potential is generally assumed when calculating the primordial power spectrum, implicitly assuming that a very small oscillation in the inflaton potential creates a negligible change in the predicted halo mass function. We…
We study a class of models in which the inflaton is minimally coupled to gravity with a term $f(R)\vp^2$. We focus in particular on the case when $f\sim R^2$, the expansion of the scale factor is driven by the usual potential energy, while…
Taking field theory seriously, inflation model-building is difficult but not impossible. The observed value of the spectral index of the adiabatic density perturbation is starting to discriminate between models, and may well pick out a…
Until recently our knowledge of the primordial curvature perturbation was relatively modest. Ever since COBE delivered its map of data we know the scalar spectrum of primordial perturbations is approximately flat, with the power being only…
We elucidate the counting of the relevant small parameters in inflationary perturbation theory. Doing this allows for an explicit delineation of the domain of validity of the semi-classical approximation to gravity used in the calculation…
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}…
We show how observations of the density perturbation (scalar) spectrum and the gravitational wave (tensor) spectrum allow a reconstruction of the potential responsible for cosmological inflation. A complete functional reconstruction or a…
We examine cosmological inflation in a broad family of scalar-tensor models characterized by scalar-dependent non minimal kinetic couplings and Gauss-Bonnet terms. Using a slow roll-approximation, we compute in detail theoretical…
We consider inflation with a constant rate of rolling in which a complex scalar field plays the role of inflaton during the inflationary epoch. We implement the inflationary analysis for an accredited angular speed $\dot{\theta}$ which…
We explore the dynamics and observational predictions of the Warm Little Inflaton scenario, presently the simplest realization of warm inflation within a concrete quantum field theory construction. We consider three distinct types of scalar…
We present a series of theoretical constraints on the potentially viable inflation models that might yield a blue spectrum for primordial tensor perturbations. By performing a detailed dynamical analysis we show that, while there exists…
We investigate the accuracy of slow-roll inflation in light of current observational constraints, which do not allow for a large deviation from scale invariance. We investigate the applicability of the first and second order slow-roll…
One of the longstanding goals in the framework of inflation is the construction of tools that can be used to classify models in theory space. An idea that has been put forward in this context is to consider the energy dependent scaling…
Generalized slow roll conditions and parameters are obtained for a general form of scalar-tensor theory (with no external sources), having arbitrary functions describing a nonminimal gravitational coupling F(\phi), a Kahler-like kinetic…
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…
We report on a new class of fast-roll inflationary models. In a huge part of its parameter space, inflationary perturbations exhibit quite unusual phenomena such as scalar and tensor modes freezing out at widely different times, as well as…
We carry out numerical investigations of the dynamics and perturbations in the Nflation model of Dimopoulos et al. (2005). This model features large numbers of scalar fields with different masses, which can cooperate to drive inflation…