Related papers: First Order Inflation in General Relativity
Present data require a spectral index $n\gsim 0.95$ at something like 1-$\sigma$ level. If this lower bound survives it will constrain `new' and `modular' inflation models, while raising it to 1.00 would rule out all of these models plus…
The generic embedding of the $R+R^2$ higher curvature theory into old-minimal supergravity leads to models with rich vacuum structure in addition to its well-known inflationary properties. When the model enjoys an exact R-symmetry, there is…
Inflation models are compared with observation on the assumption that the curvature perturbation is generated from the vacuum fluctuation of the inflaton field. The focus is on single-field models with canonical kinetic terms, classified as…
We examine the class of initial conditions which give rise to inflation. Our analysis is carried out for several popular models including: Higgs inflation, Starobinsky inflation, chaotic inflation, axion monodromy inflation and…
A problematic feature of low energy scale inflationary models, such as Starobinsky inflation, in a spatially closed universe is the occurrence of a recollapse and a big crunch singularity before inflation can even set in. In a recent work…
A scale-invariant universe can have a period of accelerated expansion at early times: inflation. We use a frame-invariant approach to calculate inflationary observables in a scale invariant theory of gravity involving two scalar fields -…
We discuss the initial conditions problem for inflation driven by the vacuum energy of a plateau potential, and in particular the Starobinsky inflation. We show that the supergravity embedding of the $R+R^2$ theory naturally decreases the…
We consider the possibility that the universe, viewed as a three-brane, originated in a region of strong external field strength due to a four-form gauge field in the bulk. It is shown that in a scenario of this kind inflation is generic…
We study the equivalence of two - order-by-order Einstein's equation and Reduced action - approaches to cosmological perturbation theory at all orders for different models of inflation. We point out a crucial consistency check which we…
We discuss two important modifications of inflationary paradigm. Until very recently we believed that inflation automatically leads to flatness of the universe, Omega = 1. We also thought that post-inflationary phase transitions in GUTs may…
The hypothesis of low entropy in the initial state of the universe usually explains the observed entropy increase is in only one time direction: the thermodynamic arrow of time. The Hamiltonian formalism is commonly used in the context of…
If the recent detection of $B-$mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background by BICEP2 observations, withstand the test of time after the release of recent PLANCK dust polarisation data, then it would surprisingly put the…
Supergravity embedding of the Standard Model of particle physics provides phenomenologically well-motivated and observationally viable inflationary scenarios. We investigate a class of inflationary models based on the superconformal…
The early time expansion of the space-time, namely inflation, is introduced to solve some cosmological problems. $F(R)$ gravity is a simple extension of the general relativity to induce the inflationary expansion. The precise observation of…
In hybrid inflation models, typically only a tiny fraction of possible initial conditions give rise to successful inflation, even if one assumes spatial homogeneity. We analyze some possible solutions to this initial conditions problem,…
Gauge-flation model at zeroth order in cosmological perturbation theory offers an interesting scenario for realizing inflation within a particle physics context, allowing us to investigate interesting possible connections between inflation…
We investigate the possibility that the inflationary period in the early universe was preceded by a primordial stage of strong anisotropy. In particular we focus on the simplest model of this kind, where the spacetime is described by a…
Problem of cosmological singularity of general relativity theory is discussed. The possible resolution of this problem in the framework of inflationary cosmology is proposed. Physical conditions leading to bouncing inflationary solutions in…
According to the current experimental data, the Higgs vacuum appears to be metastable due to the development of a second lower ground state in its potential. Consequently, vacuum decay would induce the nucleation of true vacuum bubbles with…
A particular compensation-type solution of the main cosmological constant problem has been proposed recently, with two massless vector fields dynamically canceling an arbitrary cosmological constant \Lambda. The naive expectation is that…