Related papers: The Doppler peaks from a generic defect
We extend our recent work on ``two-metric'' theories of gravity by showing how in such models cosmic defects can produce a spectrum of primordial Gaussian density perturbations. This will happen when the speed characterising the decay…
Cosmic strings formed during inflation are expected to be either diluted over super-Hubble distances, i.e., invisible today, or to have crossed our past light cone very recently. We discuss the latter situation in which a few strings…
We study the statistical nature of primordial fluctuations from an anisotropic inflation which is realized by a vector field coupled to an inflaton. We find a suitable gauge, which we call the canonical gauge, for anisotropic inflation by…
Curvature perturbations generated after the end of inflation are estimated for a generic multi-field inflationary potential. The curvature perturbations are generated by conversion of inflationary isocurvature perturbations, similar to…
A general and beautiful picture for the realization of topological insulators is that the mass term of the Dirac model has a nodal surface wrapping one Dirac point. We show that this geometric picture based on Dirac points can be…
We study a theory which generalizes the nonminimal coupling of matter to gravity by including derivative couplings. This leads to several interesting new dynamical phenomena in cosmology. In particular, the range of parameters in which…
Inflation of cosmic gauge and global strings is investigated by numerically solving the combined Einstein and field equations. Above some critical symmetry-breaking scales, the strings undergo inflation along the radial direction as well as…
Extending the Kaiser-Stebbins mechanism we propose here a method for detecting relics of topological defects such as cosmic strings based on lens-induced small-scale B-type polarization in the CMB. Models of inflation, in which large scale…
Topological defects are ubiquitous in physics. Whenever a symmetry breaking phase transition occurs, topological defects may form. The best known examples are vortex lines in type II super conductors or in liquid Helium, and declination…
Inflation universally produces classical almost scale free Gaussian inhomogeneities of any light scalars. Assuming the coupling constants at the time of inflation depend on some light moduli fields, we encounter the generation of modulated…
We study the uniqueness and robustness of acoustic signatures in the cosmic microwave background by allowing for the possibility that they are generated by some as yet unknown source of gravitational perturbations. The acoustic {\it…
In this paper, inflationary cosmology is reviewed, paying particular attention to its observational signatures associated with large-scale density perturbations generated from quantum fluctuations. In the most general scalar-tensor theories…
We consider inflation in a universe with a positive cosmological constant and a nonminimally coupled scalar field, in which the field couples both quadratically and quartically to the Ricci scalar. When considered in the Einstein frame and…
Following a suggestion by Gasperini and Veneziano, that String Cosmology can be reconciled with Inflation and, hence, with the Standard Big Bang, we display an analytical solution which possesses four interesting properties: (1) it is…
We compute the corrections to the primordial power spectrum that should arise in realistic inflationary scenarios if there exists a generic covariant ultraviolet (UV) cutoff, as commonly motivated by considerations of quantum gravity. The…
We investigate a class of models of topological inflation in which a super-Hubble-sized global monopole seeds inflation. These models are attractive since inflation starts from rather generic initial conditions, but their not so attractive…
In this talk, I shall focus on theories beyond the Standard Model which predict massive neutrinos. Hybrid inflation emerges naturally in these theories: the slow-rolling inflaton field is a gauge singlet which couples with a GUT Higgs field…
We show that double inflation is naturally realized in K\"ahler moduli inflation, which is caused by moduli associated with string compactification. We find that there is a small coupling between the two inflatons which leads to…
We address the issue of fine-tuning of the initial field configuration that can lead to hybrid inflation in the context of global supersymmetry. This problem is generated by the difference between the energy scale at which the Universe…
We describe new scenarios of generating curvature perturbations when inflaton (curvaton) has significant interactions. We consider a ``spot'', which arises from interactions associated with enhanced symmetric point (ESP) on the trajectory.…