Related papers: The Lyth Bound and the End of Inflation
In this paper we provide a new expression for the variation of the inflaton field $\Delta\phi$ during the horizon crossing epoch in the context of single field slow roll inflationary models. Such an expression represents a generalization of…
We explore the consequences of a detection of primordial tensor fluctuations for general single-field models of inflation. Using the effective theory of inflation, we propose a generalization of the Lyth bound. Our bound applies to all…
We provide strong evidence for universality of the inflationary field range: given an accurate measurement of $(n_s,r)$, one can infer $\Delta \phi$ in a model-independent way in the sub-Planckian regime for a range of universality classes…
We investigate the Lyth relationship between the tensor-scalar ratio, r, and the variation of the inflaton field, Delta phi, over the course of inflation. For inflationary models that produce at least 55 e-folds of inflation, there is a…
We show that density perturbations seeded by the inflaton can be suppressed when having additional light degrees of freedom contributing to the production of perturbations. The inflaton fluctuations affect the light field dynamics by…
We take a pragmatic, model independent approach to single field slow-roll inflation by imposing conditions to the slow-roll parameter $\epsilon$ and its derivative $\epsilon^{\prime }.$ To accommodate the recent (large) values of $r$…
We study how both the swampland distance conjecture and the Lyth bound affect the parameter space of multi-field models of inflation. A generic feature of multi-field inflation is that the geodesic distance…
Generically, the gravitational-wave or tensor-mode contribution to the primordial curvature spectrum of inflation is tiny if the field-range of the inflaton is much smaller than the Planck scale. We show that this pessimistic conclusion is…
We consider the polynomial inflation with the tensor-to-scalar ratio as large as possible which can be consistent with the Quantum Gravity (QG) corrections and Effective Field Theory (EFT). To get a minimal field excursion $\Delta\phi$ for…
We explore some issues in slow roll inflation in situations where field excursions are small compared to $M_p$. We argue that for small field inflation, minimizing fine tuning requires low energy supersymmetry and a tightly constrained…
To reconcile the BICEP2 measurement on the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ with Planck constraint, a large negative running of scalar spectral index $n_s$ is needed. So the inflationary observable such as $n_s$ should be expanded at least to the…
In single field slow roll inflation models the height and slope of the potential are to satisfy certain conditions, to match with observations. This in turn translates into bounds on the number of e-foldings and the excursion of the scalar…
We discuss a universal bound on any excitation of heavy fields during inflation: the ratio of the heavy field's energy density to the one driving inflation must be less than the maximally allowed relative amplitude of oscillations in the…
Imposing that the excursion distance of inflaton in field space during inflation be less than the Planck scale, we derive an upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at the CMB scales, i.e. $r_{*,max}$, in the general canonical…
According to the famous Lyth bound, one can confirm large field inflation by finding tensor modes with sufficiently large tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$. Here we will try to answer two related questions: Is it possible to rule out all large…
We systematically show that in potential driven generalized G-inflation models, quantum corrections coming from new physics at the strong coupling scale can be avoided, while producing observable tensor modes. The effective action can be…
We study the effects of the interaction terms between the inflaton fields on the inflationary dynamics in multi-field models. With power law type potential and interactions, the total number of e-folds may get considerably reduced and can…
In addition to generating the appropriate perturbation power spectrum, an inflationary scenario must take into account the need for inflation to end subsequently. In the context of single-field inflation models where inflation ends by…
We develop a numerical statistical method to study linear cosmological fluctuations in inflationary scenarios with multiple fields, and apply it to an ensemble of six-field inflection point models in string theory. The latter are concrete…
The BICEP2 observation of a large tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r = 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$, implies that the inflaton $\phi$ in single-field inflation models must satisfy $\phi \sim 10M_{Pl}$ in order to produce sufficient inflation. This is a…