Theories where the Planck scale is dynamically generated from dimensionless interactions provide predictive inflationary potentials and super-Planckian field variations. We first study the minimal single-field realisation in the low-energy effective field theory limit, finding the predictions $n_s \approx 0.96$ for the spectral index and $r \approx 0.13$ for the tensor-to-scalar ratio, which can be reduced down to $\approx 0.04$ in presence of large couplings. Next we consider agravity as a dimensionless quantum gravity theory finding a multi-field inflation that converges towards an attractor trajectory that predicts $n_s\approx 0.96$ and $0.003<r<0.13$, interpolating between the quadratic and Starobinsky inflation. These theories relate the smallness of the weak scale to the smallness of inflationary perturbations: both arise naturally because of small couplings, implying a reheating temperature of $10^{7-9}$ GeV. A measurement of $r$ by Keck/Bicep3 would give us information on quantum gravity in the dimensionless scenario.
A model of natural inflation with an effectively trans-Planckian decay constant can be easily achieved by the "phase locking" mechanism while keeping field values in the effective field theory within the Planck scale. We give detailed description of "phase locked" inflation based on this mechanism. We also construct supersymmetric natural inflation based on this mechanism and show that the model is consistent with low scale supersymmetry. We also investigate couplings of the inflaton with the minimal supersymmetric standard model to achieve an appropriate reheating process. Interestingly, in a…
We propose a chaotic inflation model in supergravity based on polynomial interactions of the inflaton. Specifically we study the chaotic inflation model with quadratic, cubic and quartic couplings in the scalar potential and show that the predicted scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio can lie within the 1 sigma region allowed by the Planck results.
We study an axion inflation model recently proposed within the framework of type IIB superstring theory, where we pay a particular attention to a sub-Planckian axion decay constant. Our axion potential can lead to the small field inflation with a small tensor-to-scalar ratio, and a typical reheating temperature can be as low as GeV.
The BICEP2 observation of a large tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r = 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$, implies that the inflaton $ϕ$ in single-field inflation models must satisfy $ϕ\sim 10M_{Pl}$ in order to produce sufficient inflation. This is a problem if interaction terms suppressed by the Planck scale impose a bound $ϕ\; ^{<}_{\sim} \; M_{Pl}$. Here we consider whether it is possible to have successful sub-Planckian inflation in the case of two-field inflation. The trajectory in field space cannot be radial if the effective single-field inflaton is to satisfy the Lyth bound. By considering a complex field…
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…
In this work, we examine cosmological constraints on models of composite inflation based on the slow-roll approximation by using the recent Planck measurement. We compare the spectral index of curvature perturbation (and its running) and the tensor-to-scalar ratio predicted by such models with Planck 2015 data. We find that the predictions of technicolor inflation are nicely consistent with the Planck analysis. Moreover, the predictions from the second model, glueball inflation, are in good agreement with the Planck data at $2σ$C.L. However, the final two models, super glueball inflation and o…
The supergravity (SUGRA) theories with exact global $U(1)$ symmetry or shift symmetry in Kähler potential provide the natural frameworks for inflation. However, the quadratic inflation is disfavoured by the new results on primordial tensor fluctuations from the Planck Collaboration. To be consistent with the new Planck data, we point out that the explicit symmetry breaking is needed, and study these two SUGRA inflation in details. For the SUGRA inflation with global $U(1)$ symmetry, the symmetry breaking term leads to a trigonometric modulation on inflaton potential. The coefficient of the $U(…
We use data from the nominal Planck mission to constrain modulations in the primordial power spectrum associated with monodromy inflation. The largest improvement in fit relative to the unmodulated model has Δχ^2~10 and we find no evidence for a primordial signal, in contrast to a previous analysis of the WMAP9 dataset, for which Δχ^2~20. The Planck and WMAP9 results are broadly consistent on angular scales where they are expected to agree as far as best-fit values are concerned. However, even on these scales the significance of the signal is reduced in Planck relative to WMAP, and is consiste…
The accelerated expansion of space during the period of cosmological inflation leads to trans-Planckian issues which need to be addressed. Most importantly, the physical wavelength of fluctuations which are studied at the present time by means of cosmological observations may well originate with a wavelength smaller than the Planck length at the beginning of the inflationary phase. Thus, questions arise as to whether the usual predictions of inflationary cosmology are robust considering our ignorance of physics on trans-Planckian scales, and whether the imprints of Planck-scale physics are at …
In this paper we will analyze generic predictions of an inflection-point model of inflation with Hubble-induced corrections and study them in light of the Planck data. Typically inflection-point models of inflation can be embedded within Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) where inflation can occur below the Planck scale. The flexibility of the potential allows us to match the observed amplitude of the TT-power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation with low and high multipoles, spectral tilt, and virtually mild running of the spectral tilt, which can put a bound on an …
Recent results from the Planck satellite combined with earlier observations from WMAP, ACT, SPT and other experiments eliminate a wide spectrum of more complex inflationary models and favor models with a single scalar field, as reported by the Planck Collaboration. More important, though, is that all the simplest inflaton models are disfavored statistically relative to those with plateau-like potentials. We discuss how a restriction to plateau-like models has three independent serious drawbacks: it exacerbates both the initial conditions problem and the multiverse-unpredictability problem and …
We reconstruct scalar field theories to realize inflation compatible with the BICEP2 result as well as the Planck. In particular, we examine the chaotic inflation model, natural (or axion) inflation model, and an inflationary model with a hyperbolic inflaton potential. We perform an explicit approach to find out a scalar field model of inflation in which any observations can be explained in principle.
We review the constraints that the recently released Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Planck data put on inflation and we argue that single field slow-roll inflationary scenarios (with minimal kinetic term) are favored. Then, within this class of models, by means of Bayesian inference, we show how one can rank the scenarios according to their performances, leading to the identification of ``the best models of inflation''.
Slow-roll inflation requires the inflaton field to have an exceptionally flat potential, which combined with measurements of the scale of inflation demands some degree of fine-tuning. Alternatively, the flatness of the potential could be due to the inflaton's origin as a pseudo-Goldstone boson, as in Natural Inflation. Alas, consistency with Planck data places the original proposal of Natural Inflation in a tight spot, as it requires a trans-Planckian excursion of the inflaton. Although one can still tune the renormalizable potential to sub-Planckian values, higher order corrections from quant…
We propose a chaotic inflation model in which the lightest right-handed sneutrino serves as the inflaton and the predicted values of the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio are consistent with the Planck data. Interestingly, the observed magnitude of primordial density perturbations is naturally explained by the inflaton mass of order $10^{13}$GeV, which is close to the right-handed neutrino mass scale suggested by the seesaw mechanism and the neutrino oscillation experiments. We find that the agreement of the two scales becomes even better in the neutrino mass anarchy. We show that the …
The recently proposed Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) can be used to constrain the energy scale of inflation. The conclusions however depend on the assumptions about post-inflationary history of the Universe. E.g. in the standard case of a thermal post-inflationary history in which the Universe stays radiation dominated at all times from the end of inflation to the epoch of radiation matter equality, TCC has been used to argue that the Hubble parameter during inflation, $H_{\inf}$, is below ${\cal O}(0.1) ~{\rm GeV}$. Cosmological scenarios with a non-thermal post-inflationary hist…
We briefly summarize the impact of the recent Planck measurements for string inflationary models, and outline what might be expected to be learned in the near future from the expected improvement in sensitivity to the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio. We comment on whether these models provide sufficient added value to compensate for their complexity, and ask how they fare in the face of the new constraints on non-gaussianity and dark radiation. We argue that as a group the predictions made before Planck agree well with what has been seen, and draw conclusions from this about what is likely t…
We study non-minimal Coleman-Weinberg inflation in the Palatini formulation of gravity in the presence of an $R^2$ term. The Planck scale is dynamically generated by the vacuum expectation value of the inflaton via its non-minimal coupling to the curvature scalar $R$. We show that the addition of the $R^2$ term in Palatini gravity makes non-minimal Coleman-Weinberg inflation again compatible with observational data.
We revisit a single-field new inflation model based on a discrete R symmetry. Interestingly, the inflaton dynamics naturally leads to a heavy gravitino of mass m_3/2 = O(1-100) TeV, which is consistent with the standard-model like Higgs boson of mass mh = 126 GeV. However, the predicted spectral index n_s = 0.94 is in tension with the Planck result, n_s = 0.9603+-0.073. We show that the spectral index can be increased by allowing a small constant term in the superpotential during inflation. The required size of the constant is close to the largest allowed value for successful inflation, and it…
We investigate the implication of Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) for the initial state of primordial perturbations. It is possible to set the state of perturbation modes in the infinite past as the Minkowski vacuum, only if the pre-inflationary era is past-complete. We calculate the evolution of the perturbation modes in such a pre-inflationary era and show that at the beginning of inflation the perturbation modes with wavelengths much shorter than the Hubble scale (but still larger than the Planck length scale) will behave as they are in the Bunch-Davis state. Therefore, a past-c…
A new mechanism to control Planck-scale corrections to the inflationary eta parameter is proposed. A common approach to the eta problem is to impose a shift symmetry on the inflaton field. However, this symmetry has to remain unbroken by Planck-scale effects, which is a rather strong requirement on possible ultraviolet completions of the theory. In this paper, we show that the breaking of the shift symmetry by Planck-scale corrections can be systematically suppressed if the inflaton field interacts with a conformal sector. The inflaton then receives an anomalous dimension in the conformal fiel…
We discuss the general structure and observational consequences of some of the simplest versions of chaotic inflation in supergravity in relation to the data by Planck 2013 and BICEP2. We show that minimal modifications to the simplest quadratic potential are sufficient to provide a controllable tensor mode signal and a suppression of CMB power at large angular scales.
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…
A recent paper argued that it is not possible to infer the energy scale of inflation from the amplitude of tensor fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background, because the usual connection is substantially altered if there are a large number of universally coupled fields present during inflation, with mass less than the inflationary Hubble scale. We give a simple argument demonstrating that this is incorrect.
We study the implications of the recently proposed Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) for early universe cosmology and in particular inflationary cosmology. The TCC leads to the conclusion that if we want inflationary cosmology to provide a successful scenario for cosmological structure formation, the energy scale of inflation has to be lower than $10^9$ GeV. Demanding the correct amplitude of the cosmological perturbations then forces the generalized slow-roll parameter $ε$ of the model to be very small ($<10^{-31}$). This leads to the prediction of a negligible amplitude of primordi…
We revisit a single field inflationary model based on Coleman-Weinberg potentials. We show that in small field Coleman-Weinberg inflation, the observed amplitude of perturbations needs an extremely small quartic coupling of the inflaton, which might be a signature of radiative origin. However, the spectral index obtained in a standard cosmological scenario turns out to be outside the 2 sigma region of the Planck data. When a non-standard cosmological framework is invoked, such as brane-world cosmology in the Randall-Sundrum model, the spectral index can be made consistent with Planck data with…
We propose a new field theory mechanism for generating an effective trans-Planckian decay constant from sub-Planckian ones. Using the minimal two axions and a hierarchy between two axion decay constants is sufficient for realizing inflation through non-perturbative effects only and with minimal tuning. The inflationary motion is kept entirely within a sub-Planckian domain. We outline possible strategies of embedding the model in a string theory setup.
In this work, we study an inflationary scenario in the presence of Generalized Chaplygin Gas (GCG). We show that in Einstein gravity, GCG is not a suitable candidate for inflation; but in a five dimensional brane world scenario, it can work as a viable inflationary model. We calculate the relevant quantities such as $n_{s}$, $r$ and $A_{s}$ related to the primordial scalar and tensor fluctuations, and using their recent bounds from Planck and BICEP2, we constrain the model parameters as well as the five-dimensional Planck mass. But as a slow-roll inflationary model with a power-law type scalar…
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…
Inflation is considered as the best theory of the early universe by a very large fraction of cosmologists. However, the validity of a scientific model is not decided by counting the number of its supporters and, therefore, this dominance cannot be taken as a proof of its correctness. Throughout its history, many criticisms have been put forward against inflation. The final publication of the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background data represents a benchmark time to study their relevance and to decide whether inflation really deserves its supremacy. In this paper, we categorize the criticisms again…
We categorically point out why the analysis of arXiv:1404.1821 [hep-ph] is incorrect. Here we explicitly show why the sub-Planckian field excursion of the inflaton field can yield large observable tensor-to-scalar ratio, which satisfies both Planck and BICEP constraints.
In this paper I introduce a precise constraint on primordial magnetogenesis, for a generic class of single-field inflationary model followed by small field excursion below the Planck scale. I also establish a connection between the magnetic field at the present epoch and primordial gravity waves ($r$) via non-vanishing CP asymmetry parameter ($ε_{\bf CP}$), which triggers the leptogenesis scenario. Finally, I explore various hidden cosmophenomenological features of theoretical CMB B-mode polarization spectra, which can be treated as a significant probe to put further stringent constraint on lo…
I give a general review of inflationary cosmology and of its present status, in view of the 2013 data release by the Planck satellite. A specific emphasis is given to the new broad class of theories, the cosmological attractors, which have nearly model-independent predictions converging at the sweet spot of the Planck data in the (n_s,r) plane. I also discuss the problem of initial conditions for the theories favored by the Planck data.
In this paper, we compare brane inflation models with the Planck data and the pre-Planck data (which combines WMAP, ACT, SPT, BAO and H0 data). The Planck data prefer a spectral index less than unity at more than 5σconfidence level, and a running of the spectral index at around 2σconfidence level. We find that the KKLMMT model can survive at the level of 2σonly if the parameter $β$ (the conformal coupling between the Hubble parameter and the inflaton) is less than $\mathcal{O}(10^{-3})$, which indicates a certain level of fine-tuning. The IR DBI model can provide a slightly larger negative run…
Inflation creates perturbations for the large scale structures in the universe, but it also dilutes everything. Therefore it is pertinent that the end of inflation must explain how to excite the Standard Model {\it dof} along with the dark matter. In this paper we will briefly discuss the role of visible sector inflaton candidates which are embedded within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and discuss their merit on how well they match the current data from the Planck. Since the inflaton carries the Standard Model charges their decay naturally produces all the relevant {\it dof}…
I describe the first model of chaotic inflation in supergravity, which was proposed by Goncharov and the present author in 1983. The inflaton potential of this model has a plateau-type behavior $V_{0} (1- {8\over 3}\, e^{-\sqrt 6 |ϕ|})$ at large values of the inflaton field. This model predicts $n_{s} = 1-{2\over N} \approx 0.967$ and $r = {4\over 3 N^{2}} \approx 4 \times 10^{-4}$, in good agreement with the Planck data. I propose a slight generalization of this model, which allows to describe not only inflation but also dark energy and supersymmetry breaking.
We place observational likelihood constraints on braneworld and non-commutative inflation for a number of inflaton potentials, using Planck, WMAP polarization and BAO data. Both braneworld and non-commutative scenarios of the kind considered here are limited by the most recent data even more severely than standard general-relativity models. At more than 95 % confidence level, the monomial potential $V(ϕ) \propto ϕ^p$ is ruled out for $p \geq 2$ in the Randall--Sundrum (RS) braneworld cosmology and, for $p>0$, also in the high-curvature limit of the Gauss--Bonnet (GB) braneworld and in the infr…
We discuss cosmological inflation in the minimal Wess-Zumino model with a single massive chiral supermultiplet. With suitable parameters and assuming a plausible initial condition at the start of the inflationary epoch, the model can yield scalar perturbations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) of the correct strength with a spectral index n_s ~ 0.96 and a tensor-to-scalar perturbation ratio r < 0.1, consistent with the Planck CMB data. We also discuss the possibility of topological inflation within the Wess-Zumino model, and the possibility of combining it with a seesaw model for neutri…
We assess which Kahler potentials in supergravity lead to viable single-field inflationary models that are consistent with Planck. We highlight the role of symmetries, such as shift, Heisenberg and supersymmetry, in these constructions. Also the connections to string theory are pointed out. Finally, we discuss a supergravity model for arbitrary inflationary potentials that is suitable for open string inflation and generalize it to the case of closed string inflation. Our model includes the recently discussed supergravity reformulation of the Starobinsky model of inflation as well as an interes…
In this work we consider a DBI Galileon (DBIG) inflationary model and constrain its parameter space with the Planck 2015 and BICEP2/Keck array and Planck (BKP) joint analysis data by means of a potential independent analysis. We focus our attention on inflationary solutions characterized by a constant or varying sound speed as well as warp factor. We impose bounds on stringy aspects of the model, such as the warp factor $\left(f\right)$ and the induced gravity parameter $\left(\tilde{m}\right)$. We study the parameter space of the model and find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be as low as…
We consider a model of the early universe which consists of two scalar fields: the inflaton, and a second field which drives the stabilisation of the Planck mass (or gravitational constant). We show that the non-minimal coupling of this second field to the Ricci scalar sources a non-adiabatic pressure perturbation. By performing a fully numerical calculation we find, in turn, that this boosts the amplitude of the primordial power spectrum after inflation.
With the Planck 2015 result, most of the well known canonical large field inflation models turned out to be strongly disfavored. Axion inflation is one of such models which is becoming marginalized with the increasing precession of CMB data. In this paper, we have shown that with a simple Galileon type modification to the marginally favored axion model calling G-axion, we can turn them into one of the most favored models with its detectable prediction of $r$ and $n_s$ within its PLANCK $1σ$ range for a wide range of parameters. Interestingly it is this modification which plays the important ro…
Classic inflation, the theory described in textbooks, is based on the idea that, beginning from typical initial conditions and assuming a simple inflaton potential with a minimum of fine-tuning, inflation can create exponentially large volumes of space that are generically homogeneous, isotropic and flat, with nearly scale-invariant spectra of density and gravitational wave fluctuations that are adiabatic, Gaussian and have generic predictable properties. In a recent paper, we showed that, in addition to having certain conceptual problems known for decades, classic inflation is for the first t…
In this short note, we pointed out that Warm inflationary scenario remains to be favoured over its cold counterpart by the recently proposed conjectures, which aim to overrule de Sitter like constructions in String Landscapes. On the other hand, the canonical cold (single-field slow-roll) inflationary models, which were in tension with the previously proposed de Sitter conjecture, have now become even more unlikely to realise in String Landscapes as these scenarios fail to cope up with both the conjectures, de Sitter and trans-Planckian censorship, at one go.
Rubano and Barrow have discussed the emergence of a dark energy, with late-time cosmic acceleration arising from a self-interacting homogeneous scalar field with a potential of hyperbolic power type. Here, we study the evolution of this scalar field potential back in the inflationary era. Using the hyperbolic power potential in the framework of inflation, we find that the main slow-roll parameters, like the scalar spectral index, the running of the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar fluctuation ratio can be computed analytically. Finally, in order to test the viability of this hyperbolic …
We consider the modifications of monomial chaotic inflation models due to radiative corrections induced by inflaton couplings to bosons and/or fermions necessary for reheating. To the lowest order, ignoring gravitational corrections and treating the inflaton as a classical background field, they are of the Coleman-Weinberg type and parametrized by the renormalization scale $μ$. In cosmology, there are not enough measurements to fix $μ$ so that we end up with a family of models, each having a slightly different slope of the potential. We demonstrate by explicit calculation that within the famil…
In this paper we show that the Germani-Kehagias model of Higgs inflation (or New Higgs Inflation), where the Higgs boson is kinetically non-minimally coupled to the Einstein tensor is in perfect compatibility with the latest Planck and BICEP2 data. Moreover, we show that the tension between the Planck and BICEP2 data can be relieved within the New Higgs inflation scenario by a negative running of the spectral index. Regarding the unitarity of the model, we argue that it is unitary throughout the evolution of the Universe. Weak couplings in the Higgs-Higgs and Higgs-graviton sectors are provide…
Because the inflationary mechanism is extremely sensitive to UV-physics, the construction of theoretically robust models of inflation provides a unique window on Planck-scale physics. We review efforts to use an axion with a shift symmetry to ensure a prolonged slow-roll background evolution. The symmetry dictates which operators are allowed, and these in turn determine the observational predictions of this class of models, which include observable gravitational waves (potentially chiral), oscillations in all primordial correlators, specific deviations from scale invariance and Gaussianity and…
Hilltop inflation models are often described by potentials $V = V_{0}(1-{ϕ^{n}\over m^{n}}+...)$. The omitted terms indicated by ellipsis do not affect inflation for $m \lesssim 1$, but the most popular models with $n =2$ and $4$ for $m \lesssim 1$ are ruled out observationally. Meanwhile in the large $m$ limit the results of the calculations of the tensor to scalar ratio $r$ in the models with $V = V_{0}(1-{ϕ^{n}\over m^{n}})$, for all $n$, converge to $r= 4/N \lesssim 0.07$, as in chaotic inflation with $V \sim ϕ$, suggesting a reasonably good fit to the Planck data. We show, however, that t…
We investigate the implications for inflation of the detection of B-modes polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) by BICEP2. We show that the hypothesis of primordial origin of the measurement is only favored by the first four bandpowers, while the others would prefer unreasonably large values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio. Using only those four bandpowers, we carry out a complete analysis in the cosmological and inflationary slow-roll parameter space using the BICEP2 polarization measurements alone and extract the Bayesian evidences and complexities for all the Encyclopaedia Inf…
If the inflationary phase lasted longer than the minimal period, the length scales observed today originate from modes that were smaller than the Planck length during inflation. It was recently argued that this "trans-Planckian problem" can never arise in a consistent string theory framework, which places a stringent constraint on the energy scale of inflation, $V^{1/4}\lesssim 10^9$ GeV. In this paper, we show that this requirement corresponds to a very small Hubble scale during inflation, $H_{\rm inf}\lesssim 1$ GeV, and therefore has serious consequences on scenarios where the dark matter d…
Planck data has not found the 'smoking gun' of non-Gaussianity that would have necessitated consideration of inflationary models beyond the simplest canonical single field scenarios. This raises the important question of what these results do imply for more general models, and in particular, multi-field inflation. In this paper we revisit four ways in which two-field scenarios can behave differently from single field models; two-field slow-roll dynamics, curvaton-type behaviour, inflation ending on an inhomogeneous hypersurface and modulated reheating. We study the constraints that Planck data…
For most initial conditions, cosmologically relevant physical modes were trans-planckian at the bounce time, often by many magnitude orders. We improve the usual loop quantum cosmology calculation of the primordial power spectra -- in the inflationary framework -- by accounting for those trans-planckian effects through modified dispersion relations. This can induce drastic changes in the spectrum, making it either compatible or incompatible with observational data, depending on the details of the choices operated.
Within the framework of RG improved inflationary cosmology motivated by asymptotically safe gravity, we study the dynamics of a scalar field which can be interpreted as the Higgs field. The background trajectories of this model can provide sufficient inflationary e-folds and a graceful exit to a radiation dominated phase. We study the possibility of generating primordial curvature perturbations through the Standard Model Higgs boson. This can be achieved under finely tuned parameter choices by making use of the modulated reheating mechanism. The primordial non-gaussianity is expected to be siz…
We compute the Bayesian evidence and complexity of 193 slow-roll single-field models of inflation using the Planck 2013 Cosmic Microwave Background data, with the aim of establishing which models are favoured from a Bayesian perspective. Our calculations employ a new numerical pipeline interfacing an inflationary effective likelihood with the slow-roll library ASPIC and the nested sampling algorithm MULTINEST. The models considered represent a complete and systematic scan of the entire landscape of inflationary scenarios proposed so far. Our analysis singles out the most probable models (from …
We propose a cosmological inflationary scenario based on the supergravity-embedded Standard Model supplemented by the right-handed neutrinos. We show that with an appropriate Kahler potential the L-H_u direction gives rise to successful inflation that is similar to the recently proposed gravitationally coupled Higgs inflation model but is free from the unitarity problem. The mass scale $M_R$ of the right-handed neutrinos is subject to the seesaw relation and the present 2-$σ$ constraint from the WMAP7-BAO-H_0 data sets its lower bound $M_R\gtrsim$ 1 TeV. Generation of the baryon asymmetry is n…
In the context of the Palatini formalism of gravity with an $R^{2}$ term, a $ϕ^{2}$ potential can be consistent with the observed bound on $r$ whilst retaining the successful prediction for $n_{s}$. Here we show that the Palatini $ϕ^{2} R^2$ inflation model can also solve the super-Planckian inflaton problem of $ϕ^{2}$ chaotic inflation, and that the model can be consistent with Planck scale-suppressed potential corrections. If $α\gtrsim 10^{12}$, where $α$ is the coefficient of the $R^2$ term, the inflaton in the Einstein frame, $σ$, remains sub-Planckian throughout inflation. In addition, if…
A corpuscular quantum description of inflation shows that there is no fundamental problem with trans-Planckian excursions of the inflaton field up to about 100 Planck masses, with the upper bound coming from the corpuscular quantum effects. In this description the r-parameter measures the ratio of occupation numbers of gravitons versus inflatons, which, according to BICEP2, was roughly a half at the time of 60 e-foldings prior to the end of inflation. We stress that in non-Wilsonian UV self-completion of gravity any trans-Planckian mode coupled to inflaton is a black hole. Unlike the Wilsonian…
An inflationary model in the framework of noncommutative space-time may generate a nontrivial running of the scalar spectral index, but usually induces a large tensor-to-scalar ratio simultaneously. With the latest observational data from the Planck mission, we reexamine the inflationary scenarios in a noncommutative space-time. We find that either the running of the spectral index is tiny compared with the recent observational result, or the tensor-to-scalar ratio is too large to allow a sufficient number of $e$-folds. As examples, we show that the chaotic and power-law inflation models with …
The Cosmic Microwave Background can provide information regarding physics of the very early universe, more specifically, of the matter-radiation distribution of the inflationary era. Starting from the effective field theory of inflation, we use the Goldstone action to calculate the three point correlation function for the Goldstone field, whose results can be directly applied to the field describing the curvature perturbations around a de Sitter solution for the inflationary era. We then use the data from the recent Planck mission for the parameters $f_{NL}^{equil}$ and $f_{NL}^{orthog}$ which…
