Related papers: Squeezed Thermal Vacuum and the Maximum Scale for …
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…
Quantum fast-roll initial conditions for the inflaton which are different from the classical fast-roll conditions and from the quantum slow-roll conditions can lead to inflation that last long enough. These quantum fast-roll initial…
We show that deviations of the quantum state of the inflaton from the thermal vacuum of inflation may leave an imprint in the CMB anisotropies. The quantum dynamics of the inflaton in such a state produces corrections to the inflationary…
We argue that the lack of power exhibited by cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies at large angular scales might be linked to the onset of inflation. We highlight observational features and theoretical hints that support this view,…
A particularly attractive feature of inflation is that quantum fluctuations in the inflaton field may have seeded inhomogeneities in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the formation of large-scale structure. In this paper, we…
We investigate the quantum cosmological tunneling scenario for inflationary models. Within a path-integral approach, we derive the corresponding tunneling probability distribution. A sharp peak in this distribution can be interpreted as the…
If the Standard Model is valid up to very high energies it is known that the Higgs potential can develop a local minimum at field values around $10^{15}-10^{17}$ GeV, for a narrow band of values of the top quark and Higgs masses. We show…
In this paper we study the generation of primordial perturbations in a cosmological setting of bigravity during inflation. We consider a model of bigravity which can reproduce the $\Lambda$CDM background and large scale structure and a…
We derive the implications for anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background following from a model of inflation in which a bare cosmological constant is gradually screened by an infrared process in quantum gravity. The model predicts…
We propose an inflation model in which the inflationary era is driven by the strong dynamics of $Sp(2)$ gauge theory. The quark condensation in the confined phase of $Sp(2)$ gauge theory generates the inflaton potential comparable to the…
Gravitons produced from quantum vacuum fluctuations during an inflationary stage in the early Universe have zero entropy as far as they reflect the time evolution (squeezing) of a pure state, their large occupation number notwithstanding. A…
We present the first computation of the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation up to second order in deviations from the homogeneous background solution. Our results, which fully account for the inflaton self-interactions as…
Recent study [1] has suggested that warm inflation may be realized with a minimal extension of the Standard Model by a single scalar inflaton field with an axion-like coupling to gluons. Motivated by this framework, we investigate the…
The previously proposed modification of the standard (flat) inflationary $\Lambda CDM$ model in which the inflaton field(s) and ``dark energy" are replaced by the vacum in expanding Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker Universe is studied.…
The determination of the inflationary energy scale represents one of the first step towards the understanding of the early Universe physics. The (very mild) non-Gaussian signals that arise from any inflation model carry information about…
Spectrum of initial scalar and tensor perturbations created during an inflationary stage producing a closed or open FRW universe now is discussed. In the closed case, the CMB temperature anisotropy ${\Delta T/T}$ generated by scalar…
Inflation creates both scalar (density) and tensor (gravity wave) metric perturbations. We find that the tensor mode contribution to the CMB anisotropy on large-angular scales can only exceed that of the scalar mode in models where the…
We present the first quantum field theory model of inflation that is renormalizable in the matter sector, with a super-Hubble inflaton mass and sub-Planckian field excursions, which is thus technically natural and consistent with a…
One of the major predictions of inflation is the existence of a stochastic background of cosmological gravitational waves (GW). These gravitational waves can induce significant temperature anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background…
This review article aims at presenting the theory of inflation. We first describe the background spacetime behavior during the slow-roll phase and analyze how inflation ends and the Universe reheats. Then, we present the theory of…