Related papers: Flattening the Inflaton's Potential with Quantum C…
In a previous paper I showed that a classical scalar potential with $V''/V \sim 1$ can be sufficiently flattened by quantum corrections to give rise to slow-roll inflation. In this paper I give a hybrid inflation implementation of that idea…
Inflation is often described through the dynamics of a scalar field, slow-rolling in a suitable potential. Ultimately, this inflaton must be identified as the expectation value of a quantum field, evolving in a quantum effective potential.…
Slow-roll inflation can be studied as an effective field theory. The form of the inflaton potential consistent with the data is V(phi) = N M^4 w(phi/[sqrt{N} M_{Pl}]) where phi is the inflaton field, M is the inflation energy scale, and N ~…
We show how backreaction of the inflaton potential energy on heavy scalar fields can flatten the inflationary potential, as the heavy fields adjust to their most energetically favorable configuration. This mechanism operates in previous…
We obtain the effective inflaton potential during slow roll inflation by including the one loop quantum corrections to the energy momentum tensor from scalar curvature and tensor perturbations as well as quantum fluctuations from light…
We study quantum corrections to an inflationary model, which has the attractive feature of being classically scale-invariant. In this model, quadratic gravity plays along a scalar field in such a way that inflation begins near the unstable…
We show that initial conditions for small-field inflation can be determined quantum mechanically by introducing a suitable flattened region in the scalar potential. The inflaton is then driven towards the slow-roll attractor solution…
We study an inflationary scenario where thermal inflation is followed by fast-roll inflation. This is a rather generic possibility based on the effective potentials of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the context of particle physics models.…
We propose a new class of natural inflation models based on a hidden scale invariance. In a very generic Wilsonian effective field theory with an arbitrary number of scalar fields, which exhibits scale invariance via the dilaton, the…
Precise cosmological data from WMAP and forthcoming CMB experiments motivate the study of the quantum corrections to the slowroll inflationary parameters.We find the quantum (loop) corrections to the equations of motion of the classical…
We construct a no-scale model of inflation with a single modulus whose real and imaginary parts are fixed by simple power-law corrections to the no-scale K{\" a}hler potential. Assuming an uplift of the minimum of the effective potential,…
We suggest a new method to reconstruct, within canonical single-field inflation, the inflaton potential directly from the primordial power spectrum which may deviate significantly from near scale-invariance. Our approach relies on a more…
We study inflation driven by a slow-rolling inflaton field, characterised by a quadratic potential, and incorporating radiative corrections within the context of supergravity. In this model the energy scale of inflation is not overly…
We derive general analytic formulae for the power spectrum and spectral index of the curvature perturbation produced during inflation driven by a multi-component inflaton field, up to the second order in the slow-roll approximation. We do…
We reexamine inflation due to a constrained inflaton in the model of a complex scalar. Inflaton evolves along a spiral-like valley of special scalar potential in the scalar field space just like single field inflation. Sub-Planckian…
Many, if not most, inflationary models predict the power-law index of the spectrum of density perturbations is close to one, though not precisely equal to one, |n-1| \sim O(0.1), implying that the spectrum of density perturbations is…
Within an expansion in slow-roll inflation parameters, we derive the complete second-order expressions relating the ratio of tensor to scalar density perturbations and the spectral index of the scalar spectrum. We find that ``corrections''…
We consider curved space quantum corrections to the equations of motion of the inflaton field in the early Universe. Using the stochastic formalism in phase space, we demonstrate that the quantum corrected evolution of the inflaton can…
Recent observations suggest that the spectral index of the primordial perturbations is very close to unity, as expected in models of slow roll inflation. It is still possible for such models to produce spectra which are scale dependent. We…
Usual inflation is realized with a slow rolling scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. In contrast, we consider dynamics of a scalar with a flat effective potential, conformally coupled to gravity. Surprisingly, it contains an attractor…