Related papers: The dark(er) side of inflation
We show how to enlarge the $\nu$MSM (the minimal extension of the standard model by three right-handed neutrinos) to incorporate inflation and provide a common source for electroweak symmetry breaking and for right-handed neutrino masses.…
We present a scenario of vector dark matter production from symmetry breaking at the end of inflation. In this model, the accumulated energy density associated with the quantum fluctuations of the dark photon accounts for the present energy…
A unified dynamical model of dark energy and inflation is presented, in which both phenomena are driven by axion-like fields-quintessences-of spontaneously broken global $U(1)_A$'s symmetries whose potentials are induced by instantons of…
We revisit the recently proposed mechanism of Geometric Inflation. On general grounds, we show that obtaining the right amount of inflation demands an exceedingly large initial energy density. We introduce a scalar field and study the…
We review recent progress in string model building in both early and late time cosmology. We describe the main theoretical and phenomenological features of an entire class of inflationary models where inflation is driven by a type IIB…
We investigate an inflationary model involving a gauge singlet scalar and fermionic dark matter. The mixing between the singlet scalar and the Higgs boson provides a portal to dark matter. The inflaton could either be the Higgs boson or the…
Cosmological models with inflation and those with bounce have their own strengths and weaknesses. Here we construct a model in which a phase of bounce is followed by a viable inflationary phase. This incorporates several advantages of both…
We consider the Brans-Dicke theory motivated by the $f(R) = R + \alpha R^n - \beta R^{2-n}$ model to obtain a stable minimum of the Einstein frame scalar potential of the Brans-Dicke field. As a result we have obtained an inflationary…
Scalar field cosmological inflation has a first integral relating the Hubble function and the lagrangian of the scalar field(s), which is known under the names of "Hamilton-Jacobi approach" or "superpotential equation". Here we exploit the…
We present a scenario of vector dark matter production during inflation containing a complex inflaton field which is charged under a dark gauge field and which has a symmetry breaking potential. As the inflaton field rolls towards the…
A model of high scale inflation is presented where the radial part of the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field with a non-minimal coupling to gravity plays the role of the inflaton, and the QCD axion is the dark matter. A quantum fluctuation of…
We propose a model which produces dark energy perturbations large enough to explain the lack of power seen at the quadrupole scale in the cosmic microwave background. If the dark energy is frozen from horizon exit during inflation until…
Constraining the inflationary epoch is one of the aims of modern cosmology. In order to fully exploit current and future small-scale observations, it is necessary to devise tools to directly relate them to the early universes dynamics. We…
We study some problems arising from the introduction of a complex scalar field in cosmology, modelling its possible behaviors in both the inflationary and dark energy stages of the universe. Such examples contribute to show that, while the…
The prediction of a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of curvature and tensor fluctuations is among the main features of cosmic inflation. The current measurements of the primordial fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB)…
If the inflaton and the quintessence fields are identified, the background geometry evolves through a stiff epoch undershooting the expansion rate of a radiation-dominated plasma. For some classes of inflationary potentials this scenario is…
In SuperCool Inflation (SCI), a technically natural and thermal effect gives a graceful exit to old inflation. The Universe starts off hot and trapped in a false vacuum. The Universe supercools and inflates solving the horizon and flatness…
We examine the dynamics of inflation driven by multiple, interacting scalar fields and derive a multi field version of the Hubble slow roll expansion. We show that the properties of this expansion naturally generalize those of the single…
In a unified picture both inflation and present dynamical dark energy arise from the same scalar field. The history of the Universe describes a crossover from a scale invariant "past fixed point" where all particles are massless, to a…
We consider a physically viable cosmological model that has a field dependent Gauss-Bonnet coupling in its effective action, in addition to a standard scalar field potential. The presence of such terms in the four dimensional effective…