In a variety of inflation models the motion of the inflaton may trigger the production of some non-inflaton particles during inflation, for example via parametric resonance or a phase transition. Particle production during inflation leads to observables in the cosmological fluctuations, such as features in the primordial power spectrum and also nongaussianities. Here we focus on a prototype scenario with inflaton, ϕ, and iso-inflaton, χ, fields interacting during inflation via the coupling g^2 (ϕ-ϕ_0)^2χ^2. Since several previous investigations have hinted at the presence of localized "glitches" in the observed primordial power spectrum, which are inconsistent with the simplest power-law model, it is interesting to determine the extent to which such anomalies can be explained by this simple and well-motivated model. Our prototype scenario predicts a bump-like feature in the primordial power spectrum, rather than an oscillatory "ringing" pattern as has previously been assumed. We discuss the observational constraints on such features. We find that bumps with amplitude as large as 10% of the usual scale invariant fluctuations from inflation are allowed on scales relevant for Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. Our results imply an upper limit on the coupling g^2 which is crucial for assessing the detectability of the nongaussianity produced by inflationary particle production. We also discuss more complicated features that result from superposing multiple instances of particle production. Finally, we point to a number of microscopic realizations of this scenario in string theory and supersymmetry and discuss the implications of our constraints for the popular brane/axion monodromy inflation models.
A field kinetic coupling with the Einstein tensor leads to a gravitationally enhanced friction during inflation, by which even steep potentials with theoretically natural model parameters can drive cosmic acceleration. In the presence of this non-minimal derivative coupling we place observational constraints on a number of representative inflationary models such as chaotic inflation, inflation with exponential potentials, natural inflation, and hybrid inflation. We show that most of the models can be made compatible with the current observational data mainly due to the suppressed tensor-to-sca…
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, and present a preliminary estimate of the physical scale that would underlie the phenomenon.
The observational status of inflation after the Planck 2013 and 2015 results and the BICEP2/Keck Array and Planck joint analysis is discussed. These pedagogical lecture notes are intended to serve as a technical guide filling the gap between the theoretical articles on inflation and the experimental works on astrophysical and cosmological data. After a short discussion of the central tenets at the basis of inflation (negative self-gravitating pressure) and its experimental verifications, it reviews how the most recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy measurements constrain cosmic i…
The observed baryon asymmetry, as well as potentially an asymmetry in the dark matter sector, can be produced through dissipative particle production during inflation. A distinctive feature of this mechanism is the generation of matter isocurvature perturbations that are fully (anti-)correlated with the dominant adiabatic curvature perturbations. We show that chaotic warm inflation models yield anti-correlated isocurvature modes that may partially or even completely screen the contribution of primordial gravity waves to the CMB temperature power spectrum. The tensor-to-scalar ratio inferred fr…
Recently there was an extensive discussion of Higgs inflation in the theory with the potential λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 and nonminimal coupling to gravity {ξ\over 2}ϕ^2R, for ξ>> 1 and v<< 1. We extend this investigation to the theories m^2ϕ^2 and λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 with arbitrary values of ξand v and describe implementation of these models in supergravity. We analyze observational consequences of these models and find a surprising coincidence of the inflationary predictions of the model λ(ϕ^2-v^2)^2 with ξ<0 in the limit |ξ|v^2 \to 1 with the predictions of the Higgs inflation scenario for ξ>> 1.
The eternal inflation scenario predicts that our observable universe resides inside a single bubble embedded in a vast inflating multiverse. We present the first observational tests of eternal inflation, performing a search for cosmological signatures of collisions with other bubble universes in cosmic microwave background data from the WMAP satellite. We conclude that the WMAP 7-year data do not warrant augmenting LCDM with bubble collisions, constraining the average number of detectable bubble collisions on the full sky to be less than 1.6 at 68% CL. Data from the Planck satellite can be use…
Determining the energy scale of inflation is crucial to understand the nature of inflation in the early Universe. We place observational constraints on the energy scale of the observable part of the inflaton potential by combining the 7-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data with distance measurements from the baryon acoustic oscillations in the distribution of galaxies and the Hubble constant measurement. Our analysis provides an upper limit on this energy scale, 2.3 \times 10^{16} GeV at 95% confidence level. Moreover, we forecast the sensitivity and constraints achievable by the Pla…
We consider the possibility to observationally differentiate the Standard Model (SM) Higgs driven inflation with non-minimal couplingto gravity from other variants of SM Higgs inflation based on the scalar field theories with non-canonical kinetic term such as Galileon-like kinetic term and kinetic term with non-minimal derivative coupling to the Einstein tensor. In order to ensure consistent results, we study the SM Higgs inflation variants by using the same method, computing the full dynamics of the background and perturbations of the Higgs field during inflation at quantum level. Assuming t…
For the constant-roll tachyon inflation, we derive the analytical expressions for the scalar and tensor power spectra, the scalar and tensor spectral tilts and the tensor to scalar ratio up to the first order by using the method of Bessel function approximation. The derived $n_s-r$ results for the constant-roll inflation are also compared with the observations, we find that only one constant-roll inflation is consistent with the observations and observations constrain the constant-roll inflation to be slow-roll inflation. The tachyon potential is also reconstructed for the constant-roll inflat…
The previously proposed class of phenomenological inflationary models in which the assumption of inflaton slow-roll is replaced by the more general, constant-roll condition is compared with the most recent cosmological observational data, mainly the Planck ones. Models in this two-parametric class which remain viable appear to be close to the slow-roll ones, and their inflaton potentials are close to (but still different from) that of the natural inflation model. Permitted regions for the two model parameters are presented.
We consider the possibility of extra spinning particles during inflation, focussing on the spin-2 case. Our analysis relies on the well-known fully non-linear formulation of interacting spin-2 theories. We explore the parameter space of the corresponding inflationary Lagrangian and identify regions therein exhibiting signatures within reach of upcoming CMB probes. We provide a thorough study of the early and late-time dynamics ensuring that stability conditions are met throughout the cosmic evolution. We characterise in particular the gravitational wave spectrum and three-point function findin…
Several alternative ways to quantize gravitational interactions seem to indicate that gravity at short distances is effectively two-dimensional. If this were true, and the energy scale at which the dimensional transition occurs is of the order of the inflationary one, it is reasonable to investigate eventual signatures in the primordial perturbation spectra. In this paper we look at this possibility by assuming that the inflationary era was preceded by an effectively two-dimensional evolution of the Universe. We model the transition with a mode matching and we show that, in this case, no obser…
The minimal sub-Planckian axion inflation model accounts for a large scalar-to-tensor ratio via a spiralling trajectory in the field space of a complex field $Φ$. Here we consider how the predictions of the model are modified by Planck scale-suppressed corrections. In the absence of Planck corrections the model is equivalent to a $ϕ^{4/3}$ chaotic inflation model. Planck corrections become important when the dimensionless coupling $ξ$ of $|Φ|^{2}$ to the topological charge density of the strongly-coupled gauge sector $F \tilde{F}$ satisfies $ξ\sim 1$. For values of $|Φ|$ which allow the Planck…
Recently a new kind of quintessential inflation coming from the Lorentzian distribution has been introduced in [1,2]. The model leads to a very simple potential, which basically depends on two parameters, belonging to the class of $α$-attractors and depicting correctly the early and late time accelerations of our universe. The potential emphasizes a {\it cosmological seesaw mechanism} (CSSM) that produces a large inflationary vacuum energy in one side of the potential and a very small value of dark energy on the right hand side of the potential. {Here we show that the model agrees with the rec…
Constant-roll inflation was recently introduced by Motohashi, Starobinsky and Yokoyama as a phenomenological way to parametrize deviations from the slow-roll scenarios. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of both the background and the perturbations in this model, without making any slow-roll assumptions. The perturbation spectra are computed with an efficient and accurate novel method that allowed us to quickly scan the parameter space of constant-roll inflation. We derive the constraints on the model parameters from the cosmic microwave background anisotropy measurements provided by t…
In the previous work, a new kind of inflation model was proposed, which has the interesting property that its perturbation equation of motion gets a correction of k^4, due to the non-linearity of the kinetic term. Nonetheless, the scale-invariance of the power spectrum remains valid, both in large-k and small-k limits. In this paper, we investigate in detail the spectral index, the index running and the tensor/scalar ratio in this model, especially on the potential-driven case, and compare the results to the current PLANCK/BICEP observational data. We also discuss the tensor spectrum in this c…
We study observational constraints on the assisted k-inflation models in which multiple scalar fields join an attractor characterized by an effective single field $ϕ$. This effective single-field system is described by the Lagrangian $P=Xg(Y)$, where $X$ is the kinetic energy of $ϕ$, $λ$ is a constant, and $g$ is an arbitrary function in terms of $Y=X e^{λϕ}$. Our analysis covers a wide variety of k-inflation models such as dilatonic ghost condensate, Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) field, tachyon, as well as the canonical field with an exponential potential. We place observational bounds on the param…
We investigate the dependency of Higgs inflation on the non-renormalisable matching between the low energy Standard Model limit and the inflationary regime at high energies. We show that for the top mass range $m_t \gtrsim 171.8$ GeV the scenario robustly predicts the spectral index $n_s \simeq 0.97$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r\simeq 0.003$. The matching is however non-trivial, even the best-fit values $m_h=125.09$ GeV and $m_t=173.21$ GeV require a jump $δλ\sim 0.01$ in the Higgs coupling below the inflationary scale. For $m_t\lesssim 171.8$ GeV, the matching may generate a feature in t…
The aim of this paper is to probe the features of the bouncing cosmology with the current observational data. Basing on bounce inflation model, with high derivative term, we propose a general parametrization of primordial power spectrum which includes the typical bouncing parameters, such as bouncing time-scale, and energy scale. By applying Markov Chain Monto Carlo analysis with current data combination of Planck 2015, BAO and JLA, we report the posterior probability distributions of the parameters. We find that, bouncing models can well explain CMB observations, especially the deficit and os…
We explore the observational implications of models of intermediate inflation driven by modified dispersion relations, specifically those representing the phenomenon of dimensional reduction in the ultraviolet limit. These models are distinct from the standard ones because they do not require violations of the strong energy condition, and this is reflected in their structure formation properties. We find that they can naturally accommodate deviations from exact scale-invariance. They also make clear predictions for the running of the spectral index and tensor modes, rendering the models straig…
We study the imprints of a massive spin-2 field on inflationary observables, and in particular on the breaking of consistency relations. In this setup, the minimal inflationary field content interacts with the massive spin-2 field through dRGT interactions, thus guaranteeing the absence of Boulware-Deser ghostly degrees of freedom. The unitarity requirement on spinning particles, known as Higuchi bound, plays a crucial role for the size of the observable signal.
In this work, we introduce a bottom-up $F(R)$ gravity reconstruction technique, in which we fix the observational indices and we seek for the $F(R)$ gravity which may realize them. Particularly, as an exemplification of our method, we shall assume that the scalar-to-tensor ratio has a specific form, and from it we shall reconstruct the $F(R)$ gravity that may realize it, focusing on special values of the parameters in order to obtain analytical results. The observational indices we study are compatible with the latest observational data, and we discuss how the functional form of the observatio…
Inflationary cosmology proposes that the early Universe undergoes accelerated expansion, driven, in simple scenarios, by a single scalar field, or inflaton. The form of the inflaton potential determines the initial spectra of density perturbations and gravitational waves. We show that constraints on the duration of inflation together with the BICEP3/Keck bounds on the gravitational wave background imply that higher derivatives of the potential are nontrivial with a confidence of 99%. Such terms contribute to the scale-dependence, or running, of the density perturbation spectrum. We clarify the…
In this master thesis we study multi-field inflation and the UV sensitivity of certain models of inflation in supergravity. We first introduce inflation and its current observational status. Then we provide an overview of studies of multiple field inflation in the literature. We translate between the different notations and definitions used in various papers and study the different approximation schemes and their regime of validity. Finally we perform a numerical study of models of multi-field inflation from recent papers in the literature. We study if the current and future experiments might …
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 with second-order equations of motion, we derive the scalar spectral index $n_s$, the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, and the nonlinear estimator $f_{\rm NL}$ of primordial non-Gaussianities to confront models with observations of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. Our analysis includes models such as potential-driven slow-roll inflatio…
We identify a two-parameter family of excited states within slow-roll inflation for which either the corrections to the two-point function or the characteristic signatures of excited states in the three-point function -- i.e. the enhancement for the flattened momenta configurations-- are absent. These excited states may nonetheless violate the adiabaticity condition maximally. We dub these initial states of inflation calm excited states. We show that these two sets do not intersect, i.e., those that leave the power-spectrum invariant can be distinguished from their bispectra, and vice versa. T…
Cosmic inflation provides a window to the highest energy densities accessible in nature, far beyond those achievable in any realistic terrestrial experiment. Theoretical insights into the inflationary era and its observational probes may therefore shed unique light on the physical laws underlying our universe. This white paper describes our current theoretical understanding of the inflationary era, with a focus on the statistical properties of primordial fluctuations. In particular, we survey observational targets for three important signatures of inflation: primordial gravitational waves, pri…
We consider a brane cosmology scenario by taking an inflating 3D domain wall immersed in a five-dimensional Minkowski space in the presence of a stack of $N$ parallel domain walls. They are static BPS solutions of the bosonic sector of a 5D supergravity theory. However, one can move towards each other due to an attractive force in between driven by bulk particle collisions and {\it resonant tunneling effect}. The accelerating domain wall is a 3-brane that is assumed to be our inflating early Universe. We analyze this inflationary phase governed by the inflaton potential induced on the brane. W…
We study observational signatures of two classes of anisotropic inflationary models in which an inflaton field couples to (i) a vector kinetic term F_{mu nu}F^{mu nu} and (ii) a two-form kinetic term H_{mu nu lambda}H^{mu nu lambda}. We compute the corrections from the anisotropic sources to the power spectrum of gravitational waves as well as the two-point cross correlation between scalar and tensor perturbations. The signs of the anisotropic parameter g_* are different depending on the vector and the two-form models, but the statistical anisotropies generally lead to a suppressed tensor-to-s…
We show that modifications of Einstein gravity during inflation could leave potentially measurable imprints on cosmological observables in the form of non-Gaussian perturbations. This is due to the fact that these modifications appear in the form of an extra field that could have non-trivial interactions with the inflaton. We show it explicitly for the case $R+αR^2$, where nearly scale-invariant non-Gaussianity at the level of $f_{\rm NL} \approx -(1$ to $30)$ can be obtained, in a quasi-local configuration.
Warm inflation is, as of today, one of the best motivated mechanisms for explaining an early inflationary period. In this paper, we derive and analyze the current bounds on warm inflation with a monomial potential $U\propto ϕ^p$, using the constraints from the PLANCK mission. In particular, we discuss the parameter space of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and the potential coupling $λ$ of the monomial warm inflation in terms of the number of e-folds. We obtain that the theoretical tensor-to-scalar ratio $r\sim 10^{-8}$ is much smaller than the current observational constrain $r \lesssim 0.12$, …
Primordial non-Gaussianity generated in an inflationary model where inflation is preceded by a radiation era is discussed. It is shown that both bispectrum and trispectrum non-Gaussianities are enhanced due to the presence of pre-inflationary radiation era. One distinguishing feature of such a scenario is that the trispectrum non-Gaussianity is larger than the bispectrum one.
We study the evolution of Gravitational Waves (GWs) during and after inflation as well as the resulting observational consequences in a Lorentz-violating massive gravity theory with one scalar (inflaton) and two tensor degrees of freedom. We consider two explicit examples of the tensor mass $m_g$ that depends either on the inflaton field $ϕ$ or on its time derivative $\dotϕ$, both of which lead to parametric excitations of GWs during reheating after inflation. The first example is Starobinsky's $R^2$ inflation model with a $ϕ$-dependent $m_g$ and the second is a low-energy-scale inflation mode…
In scalar-tensor theories the scalar fields generically couple nontrivially to gravity. We study the observable properties of inflationary models with non-minimally coupled inflaton and Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) kinetic term. Within the assumptions of the priors of our Monte-Carlo simulations we find these models can generate new interesting observable signatures. Our discussion focuses on string theory inspired phenomenological models of relativistic D-brane inflation. While successful string theory constructions of ultra-violet DBI brane inflation remain elusive, we show that in suitable regio…
A new model of thermal inflation is introduced, in which the mass of the thermal waterfall field is dependent on a light spectator scalar field. Using the $δN$ formalism, the "end of inflation" scenario is investigated in order to ascertain whether this model is able to produce the dominant contribution to the primordial curvature perturbation. A multitude of constrains are considered so as to explore the parameter space, with particular emphasis to key observational signatures. For natural values of the parameters, the model is found to yield a sharp prediction for the scalar spectral index a…
We study observational viability of Natural Inflation with a tachyon field as inflaton. By obtaining the main perturbation parameters in this model, we perform a numerical analysis on the parameter space of the model and in confrontation with $68\%$ and $95\%$ CL regions of Planck2015 data. By adopting a warped background geometry, we find some new constraints on the width of the potential in terms of its height and the warp factor. We show that the Tachyon Natural Inflation in the large width limit recovers the tachyon model with a $ϕ^{2}$ potential which is consistent with Planck2015 observa…
Temporary domain walls are produced during the bifurcation era of multi-stream inflation. The observational effects from such a domain wall to spectator field perturbations are calculated, and we expect the inflationary perturbations share similarities with the case of spectator field. A domain wall induces a preferred direction in the sky, affecting the angular distribution of perturbations. A correlated suppression of multipoles together with an alignment of multipole moments on the preferred direction are generated. Other observational aspects of multi-stream inflation, including hemispheri…
We study cosmological inflation and its dynamics in the framework of the Randall-Sundrum II brane model. In particular, we analyze in detail four representative small-field inflationary potentials, namely Natural inflation, Hilltop inflation, Higgs-like inflation, and Exponential SUSY inflation, each characterized by two mass scales. We constrain the parameters for which a viable inflationary Universe emerges using the latest PLANCK results. Furthermore, we investigate whether or not those models in brane cosmology are consistent with the recently proposed Swampland Criteria, and give predicti…
During inflation, the geometry of spacetime is described by a (quasi-)de Sitter phase. Inflationary observables are determined by the underlying (softly broken) de Sitter isometry group SO(1, 4) which acts like a conformal group on R^3: when the fluctuations are on super-Hubble scales, the correlators of the scalar fields are constrained by conformal invariance. Heavy fields with mass m larger than the Hubble rate H correspond to operators with imaginary dimensions in the dual Euclidean three-dimensional conformal field theory. By making use of the dS/CFT correspondence we show that, besides t…
We discuss the constant-roll inflation with constant $ε_2$ and constant $\barη$. By using the method of Bessel function approximation, the analytical expressions for the scalar and tensor power spectra, the scalar and tensor spectral tilts, and the tensor to scalar ratio are derived up to the first order of $ε_1$. The model with constant $ε_2$ is ruled out by the observations at the $3σ$ confidence level, and the model with constant $\barη$ is consistent with the observations at the $1σ$ confidence level. The potential for the model with constant $\barη$ is also obtained from the Hamilton-Jaco…
In this paper, we investigate various inflation models in the context of the no-boundary proposal. We propose that a good inflation model should satisfy three conditions: observational constraints, plausible initial conditions, and naturalness of the model. For various inflation models, we assign the probability to each initial condition using the no-boundary proposal and define a quantitative standard, typicality, to check whether the model satisfies the observational constraints with probable initial conditions. There are three possible ways to satisfy the typicality criterion: there was pre…
The motion of a pseudo-scalar field $X$ during inflation naturally induces a significant amplification of the gauge fields to which it is coupled. The amplified gauge fields can source characteristic scalar and tensor primordial perturbations. Several phenomenological implications have been discussed in the cases in which (i) $X$ is the inflation, and (ii) $X$ is a field different from the inflation, that experiences a temporary speed up during inflation. In this second case, visible sourced gravitational waves (GW) can be produced at the CMB scales without affecting the scalar perturbations, …
We compute the universal generic corrections to the power spectrum in slow-roll inflation due to unknown high-energy physics. We arrive at this result via a careful integrating out of massive fields in the "in-in" formalism yielding a consistent and predictive low-energy effective description in time-dependent backgrounds. The density power spectrum is universally modified at leading order in $H/M$, the ratio of the scale of inflation to the scale of new physics; the tensor power spectrum receives only subleading corrections. In doing so, we show how to make sense of a physical momentum-cut-of…
We compute the universal generic corrections to the inflationary power spectrum due to unknown high-energy physics. We arrive at this result via a careful integrating out of massive fields in the "in-in" formalism yielding a consistent and predictive low-energy effective description in time-dependent backgrounds. We find that the power spectrum is universally modified at order H/M, where H is the scale of inflation. This is qualitatively different from the universal corrections in time-independent backgrounds, and it suggests that such effects may be present in upcoming cosmological observatio…
We calculate how primordial anisotropies in the background space-time affect the evolution of cosmological perturbations for bouncing alternatives to inflation, like ekpyrosis and the matter bounce scenario. We find that the leading order effect of anisotropies in the contracting phase of the universe is to induce anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background with a very concrete form: a scale-invariant quadrupolar angular distribution. Sub-leading effects are the generation of higher-order moments in the angular distribution, as well as cross-correlations between scalar and tensor modes. We…
The effective field theory of inflation is a powerful tool for obtaining model independent predictions common to large classes of inflationary models. It requires only information about the symmetries broken during the inflationary era, and on the number and nature of fields that drive inflation. In this paper, we consider the case for scenarios that simultaneously break time reparameterization and spatial diffeomorphisms during inflation. We examine how to analyse such systems using an effective field theory approach, and we discuss several observational consequences for the statistics of sca…
We investigate the observational viability of a class of $α$-attractors inflationary models in light of the most recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Large-Scale Structure (LSS) data. By considering a double-well potential we perform a slow-roll analysis to study the behavior of this class of models, which is a continuous interpolation between the chaotic inflation for large values of $α$ and the universal attractor, i.e., $n_s=1- 2/N$ and $r=α12/N^2$ for small $α$, where $n_s$ is the scalar spectral index, $r$ is the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and $N$ is the e-fold number. In order to ex…
Quantization implies independent degrees of freedom that do not appear in the classical theory, given by fluctuations, correlations, and higher moments of a state. A systematic derivation of the resulting dynamical systems is presented here in a cosmological application for near-Gaussian states of a single-field inflation model. As a consequence, single-field Higgs inflation is made viable observationally by becoming a multi-field model with a specific potential for a fluctuation field interacting with the inflaton expectation value. Crucially, non-adiabatic methods of semiclassical quantum dy…
An algorithm is used to generate new solutions of the scalar field equations in homogeneous and isotropic universes. Solutions can be found for pure scalar fields with various potentials in the absence and presence of spatial curvature and other perfect fluids. A series of generalisations of the Chaplygin gas and bulk viscous cosmological solutions for inflationary universes are found. Furthermore other closed-form solutions which provide inflationary universes are presented. We also show how the Hubble slow-roll parameters can be calculated using the solution algorithm and we compare these in…
We apply the Effective Field Theory of Inflation to study the case where the continuous shift symmetry of the Goldstone boson πis softly broken to a discrete subgroup. This case includes and generalizes recently proposed String Theory inspired models of Inflation based on Axion Monodromy. The models we study have the property that the 2-point function oscillates as a function of the wavenumber, leading to oscillations in the CMB power spectrum. The non-linear realization of time diffeomorphisms induces some self-interactions for the Goldstone boson that lead to a peculiar non-Gaussianity whose…
Chongqing University of Posts & Telecommunications（重庆邮电大学）；Department of Physics and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Strongly Coupled Physics, Chongqing University（重庆大学物理学院）；School of Physics, Zhengzhou University（郑州大学物理学院）
We calculate high-precision constraints on Natural Inflation relative to current observational constraints from Planck 2018 + BICEP/Keck(BK15) Polarization + BAO on $r$ and $n_S$, including post-inflationary history of the universe. We find that, for conventional post-inflationary dynamics, Natural Inflation with a cosine potential is disfavored at greater than 95\% confidence out by current data. If we assume protracted reheating characterized by $\overline{w}>1/3,$ Natural Inflation can be brought into agreement with current observational constraints. However, bringing unmodified Natural Inf…
We study the two-field warm inflation models with a double quadratic potential and a linear temperature dependent dissipative coefficient. We derived the evolution equation of all kinds of perturbations without assuming slow-roll approximation, and obtained the curvature power spectrum at the end of inflation with a fully numerical method. Then we compute the scalar spectral index $n_s$, tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ for several representative potentials, and compare our results with observational data. At last, we use Planck data to constrain the parameters in our models. This work is a natural …
We constrain several models in Tachyonic Inflation derived from the large-$N$ formalism by considering theoretical aspects as well as the latest observational data. On the theoretical side, we assess the field range of our models by means of the excursion of the equivalent canonical field. On the observational side, we employ BK14+PLANCK+BAO data to perform a parameter estimation analysis as well as a Bayesian model selection to distinguish the most favoured models among all four classes here presented. We observe that the original potential $V \propto \textrm{sech}(T)$ is strongly disfavoured…
