Warm natural inflation

In warm inflation models there is the requirement of generating large dissipative couplings of the inflaton with radiation, while at the same time, not de-stabilising the flatness of the inflaton potential due to radiative corrections. One way to achieve this without fine tuning unrelated couplings is by supersymmetry. In this Letter we show that if the inflaton and other light fields are pseudo-Nambu–Goldstone bosons then the radiative corrections to the potential are suppressed and the thermal corrections are small as long as the temperature is below the symmetry breaking scale. In such models it is possible to fulfil the contrary requirements of an inflaton potential which is stable under radiative corrections and the generation of a large dissipative coupling of the inflaton field with other light fields. We construct a warm inflation model which gives the observed CMB-anisotropy amplitude and spectral index where the symmetry breaking is at the GUT scale.     

Quadratic,Higgs and hilltop potentials in Palatini gravity

In this work, we study the theory of inflation with the non-minimally coupled quadratic, standard model Higgs, and hilltop potentials, through ξφ~2R term in Palatini gravity. We first analyze observational parameters of the Palatini quadratic potential as functions of ξ for the high-N scenario. In addition to this, taking into account that the inflaton field f has a non-zero vacuum expectation value v after inflation, we display observational parameters of well-known symmetry-breaking potentials. The types of potentials considered are the Higgs potential and its generalizations, namely hilltop potentials in the Palatini formalism for the high-N scenario and the low-N scenario. We calculate inflationary parameters for the Palatini Higgs potential as functions of v for different ξ values, where inflaton values are both φv and φv during inflation, as well as calculating observational parameters of the Palatini Higgs potential in the induced gravity limit for high-N scenario. We illustrate differences between the Higgs potential's effect on ξ versus hilltop potentials, which agree with the observations for the inflaton values for φv and ξ, in which v1 for both these high and low N scenarios. For each considered potential, we also display n_s-r values fitted to the current data given by the Keck Array/BICEP2 and Planck collaborations.     

Non-thermal leptogenesis and baryon asymmetry in different neutrino mass models

In the present work we study non-thermal leptogenesis and baryon asymmetry in the universe in different neutrino mass models discussed recently. For each model we obtain a formula relating the reheating temperature after inflation to the inflaton mass. It is shown that all but four cases are excluded and that in the cases which survive the inflaton mass and the reheating temperature after inflation are bounded from below and from above.     

Linear inflation from running kinetic term in supergravity

We propose a new class of inflation models in which the coefficient of the inflaton kinetic term rapidly changes with energy scale. This naturally occurs especially if the inflaton moves over a long distance during inflation as in the case of large-scale inflation. The peculiar behavior of the kinetic term opens up a new way to construct an inflation model. As a concrete example we construct a linear inflation model in supergravity. It is straightforward to build a chaotic inflation model with a fractional power along the same line. Interestingly, the potential takes a different form after inflation because of the running kinetic term.     

Cosmic No-Hair Theorem for Bianchi Models in Brane-World Scenarios

In this paper we have examined the cosmic no-hair theorem for homogeneous anisotropic Bianchi cosmological models with a scalar field in Randall and Sundrum Brane-world scenarios. It is observed that the form of the potential does not affect the evolution in inflationary era while late time behaviour is controlled by the constant additive factor in the potential for the inflaton field.     

A confirmation of agreement of different approaches for?scalar?gauge-invariant metric perturbations during inflation

We revisit an extension of the well-known formalism for gauge-invariant scalar metric fluctuations to study the spectra for both the inflaton and gauge-invariant (scalar) metric fluctuations in the framework of a single-field inflationary model, in which the quasi-exponential expansion is driven by an inflaton which is minimally coupled to gravity. The proposal here examined is valid also for fluctuations with large amplitudes, but for cosmological scales, where vector and tensor perturbations can be neglected and the fluid is irrotacional.     

Inflation with hyperbolic potential in the braneworld model

In this paper we study inflationary dynamics with a scalar field in an inverse coshyperbolic potential in the braneworld model. We note that a sufficient inflation may be obtained with the potential considering slow-roll approximation in the high energy limit. We determine the minimum values of the initial inflaton field required to obtain sufficient inflation and also determine the relevant inflationary parameters. The numerical values of spectral index of the scalar perturbation spectrum are determined by varying the number of e-foldings for different initial values of the inflaton field. The result obtained here is in good agreement with the current observational limits.      

Mimicking trans-Planckian effects in the CMB with conventional physics

We investigate the possibility that fields coupled to the inflaton can influence the primordial spectrum of density perturbations through their coherent motion. For example, the second field in hybrid inflation might be oscillating at the beginning of inflation rather than at the minimum of its potential. Although this effect is washed out if inflation lasts long enough, we note that there can be up to 30e-foldings of inflation prior to horizon crossing of COBE fluctuations while still giving a potentially visible distortion. Such pumping of the inflaton fluctuations by purely conventional physics can resemble trans-Planckian effects which have been widely discussed. The distortions which they make to the CMB could leave a distinctive signature which differs from generic effects like tilting of the spectrum.     

Semiclassical gravitoelectromagnetic inflation in a Lorentz gauge: Seminal inflaton fluctuations and electromagnetic fields from a 5D vacuum state

Using a semiclassical approach to Gravitoelectromagnetic Inflation (GEMI), we study the origin and evolution of seminal inflaton and electromagnetic fields in the early inflationary universe from a 5D vacuum state. The difference with other previous works is that in this one we use a Lorentz gauge. Our formalism is naturally not conformal invariant on the effective 4D de Sitter metric, which make possible the super adiabatic amplification of magnetic field modes during the early inflationary epoch of the universe on cosmological scales.     

The( p,q) inflation model

In this paper we propose a new inflation model named( p, q) inflation model in which the inflaton potential contains both positive and negative powers of inflaton field in the polynomial form. We derive the accurate predictions of the canonical single-field slow-roll inflation model. Using these formula, we show that our inflation model can easily generate a large amplitude of tensor perturbation and a negative running of spectral index with large absolute value.     

Geometrical origin of entropy during inflation from the STM theory of gravity

Using a recently introduced 5D Riemann flat metric, we investigate the possibility of introducing dissipation in the dynamics of the inflaton field on an effective 4D FRW metric, in the framework of the STM theory of gravity.     

Inflation with non-minimal coupling: Metric vs. Palatini formulations

We analyze non-minimally coupled scalar field theories in metric (second-order) and Palatini (first-order) formalisms in a comparative fashion. After contrasting them in a general setup, we specialize to inflation and find that the two formalisms differ in their predictions for various cosmological parameters. The main reason is that dependencies on the non-minimal coupling parameter are different in the two formalisms. For successful inflation, the Palatini approach prefers a much larger value for the non-minimal coupling parameter than the Metric approach. Unlike the Metric formalism, in Palatini, the inflaton stays well below the Planck scale whereby providing a natural inflationary epoch.     

Ultraviolet-protected inflation

In natural inflation, the inflaton is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson which acquires a mass by explicit breaking of a global shift symmetry at scale f. In this case, for small field values, the potential is flat and stable under radiative corrections. Nevertheless, slow roll conditions enforce f ? M(p), making the validity of the whole scenario questionable. In this Letter, we show that a coupling of the inflaton kinetic term to the Einstein tensor allows f ? M(p) by enhancing the gravitational friction acting on the inflaton during inflation. This new unique interaction (a) keeps the theory perturbative in the whole inflationary trajectory, (b) preserves the tree-level shift invariance of the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson, and (c) avoids the introduction of any new degrees of freedom with respect to standard natural inflation.     

Higher order terms in the inflaton potential and the lower bound on the tensor to scalar ratio r

The MCMC analysis of the CMB + LSS data in the context of the Ginsburg–Landau approach to inflation indicated that the fourth degree double-well inflaton potential in new inflation gives an excellent fit of the present CMB and LSS data. This provided a lower bound for the ratio r of the tensor to scalar fluctuations and as most probable value r ? 0.05, within reach of the forthcoming CMB observations. In this paper we systematically analyze the effects of arbitrarily higher order terms in the inflaton potential on the CMB observables: spectral index n_s and ratio r. Furthermore, we compute in close form the inflaton potential dynamically generated when the inflaton field is a fermion condensate in the inflationary universe. This inflaton potential turns out to belong to the Ginsburg–Landau class too. The theoretical values in the (n_s, r) plane for all double well inflaton potentials in the Ginsburg–Landau approach (including the potential generated by fermions) fall inside a universal banana-shaped region B. The upper border of the banana-shaped region B is given by the fourth order double-well potential and provides an upper bound for the ratio r. The lower border of B is defined by the quadratic plus an infinite barrier inflaton potential and provides a lower bound for the ratio r. For example, the current best value of the spectral index n_s = 0.964, implies r is in the interval: 0.021 < r < 0.053. Interestingly enough, this range is within reach of forthcoming CMB observations.     

Anomaly-induced inflaton decay and gravitino-overproduction problem

We point out that the inflaton spontaneously decays into any gauge bosons and gauginos via the super-Weyl, Kähler and sigma-model anomalies in supergravity, once the inflaton acquires a non-vanishing vacuum expectation value. In particular, in the dynamical supersymmetry breaking scenarios, the inflaton necessarily decays into the supersymmetry breaking sector, if the inflaton mass is larger than the dynamical scale. This generically causes the overproduction of the gravitinos, which severely constrains the inflation models.     

SUGRA hybrid inflation with shift symmetry

We propose a solution to the η  -problem in supergravity (SUGRA) hybrid inflation using a Nambu–Goldstone-like shift symmetry within a new class of models. The flatness of the tree-level inflaton potential is ensured by shift symmetry invariance of the Kähler potential, while a small symmetry breaking term in the superpotential gives rise to a slope of the potential at loop-level. In the proposed class of inflation models, potentially dangerous couplings between the inflaton and the moduli sector are avoided. We also discuss under which conditions the predicted spectral index can be in agreement with the best-fit-value of the latest WMAP observation ns∼0.96$n_{\mathrm{s}}\sim 0.96$, corresponding to a hilltop-type inflaton potential at loop-level.     

Developments in inflationary cosmology

This talk presents some recent work that has been done in inflationary cosmology. First a brief review is given of the inflation scenario and its basic models. After that, one of the main problems in developing inflationary models has been the requirement of a very flat inflation potential. In solving this problem, supersymmetry has played a major role, and the reasons will be discussed and a specific example of the SUSY hybrid model will be examined. Some problems introduced by SUSY such as the η and gravitino problems will then be discussed. Then in a different direction, the quintessential inflation model will be examined as a proposal where a single scalar field plays the role of both the inflaton at early time and the dark energy field later. The final topic covered is developments in understanding dissipation and particle production processes during the inflationary phase.      

Slightly Bimetric Gravitation

The inclusion of a flat metric tensor in gravitation permits the formulation of a gravitational stress-energy tensor and the formal derivation of general relativity from a linear theory in flat spacetime. Building on the works of Kraichnan and Deser, we present such a derivation using universal coupling and gauge invariance.Next we slightly weaken the assumptions of universal coupling and gauge invariance, obtaining a larger "slightly bimetric" class of theories, in which the Euler-Lagrange equations depend only on a curved metric, matter fields, and the determinant of the flat metric. The theories are equivalent to generally covariant theories with an arbitrary cosmological constant and an arbitrarily coupled scalar field, which can serve as an inflaton or dark matter.The question of the consistency of the null cone structures of the two metrics is addressed.     

Scale-invariant scalar metric fluctuations during inflation: non-perturbative formalism from a 5D vacuum

We extend to 5D an approach of a 4D non-perturbative formalism to study scalar metric fluctuations of a 5D Riemann-flat de Sitter background metric. In contrast with the results obtained in 4D, the spectrum of cosmological scalar metric fluctuations during inflation can be scale invariant and the background inflaton field can take sub-Planckian values.     

A delicate universe: compactification obstacles to D-brane inflation

We investigate whether explicit models of warped D-brane inflation are possible in string compactifications. To this end, we study the potential for D3-brane motion in a warped conifold that includes holomorphically embedded D7-branes involved in moduli stabilization. The presence of the D7-branes significantly modifies the inflaton potential. We construct an example based on a very simple and symmetric embedding due to Kuperstein, z1= const, in which it is possible to fine-tune the potential so that slow-roll inflation can occur. The resulting model is rather delicate: inflation occurs in the vicinity of an inflection point, and the cosmological predictions are extremely sensitive to the precise shape of the potential.