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.
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…
We investigate the descriptions for the observables of inflationary models, in particular, the spectral index of curvature perturbations, the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and the running of the spectral index, in the framework of perfect fluid models and $F(R)$ gravity theories through the reconstruction methods. Furthermore, the perfect fluid and $F(R)$ gravity descriptions of inflation are compared with the recent cosmological observations such as the Planck satellite and BICEP2 experiment. It is demonstrated with explicit examples that perfect fluid may lead to the inflationary universe consiste…
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 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…
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 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…
Recently a broad class of superconformal inflationary models was found leading to a universal observational prediction $n_s=1-2/N$ and $r=12/N^2$. Here we generalize this class of models by introducing a parameter $α$ inversely proportional to the curvature of the inflaton Kahler manifold. In the small curvature (large $α$) limit, the observational predictions of this class of models coincide with the predictions of generic chaotic inflation models. However, for sufficiently large curvature (small $α$), the predictions converge to the universal attractor regime with $n_s=1-2/N$ and $r=12α/N^2$…
The physical mechanism responsible for the emergence of primordial cosmic seeds from a perfect isotropic and homogeneous Universe has not been fully addressed in standard cosmic inflation. To handle this shortcoming, D. Sudarsky et al have developed a proposal: the self-induced collapse hypothesis. In this scheme, the objective collapse of the inflaton's wave function generates the inhomogeneity and anisotropy at all scales. In this paper we analyze the viability of a set of inflationary potentials in both the context of the collapse proposal and within the standard inflationary framework. For…
We consider two classes of non-minimally coupled inflation models; those with a quadratic coupling of the inflaton to gravity, and the `Universal Attractor' models where the coupling is connected to the potential. We make a detailed analysis of the attractor structure in the latter case, identifying a shift of the attractor from the Starobinsky point and determining conditions for approach to the attractor. We then assess the viability of the models under different interpretations of the BICEP2 experiment's detection of B-mode polarisation, finding strong constraints on the non-minimal couplin…
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…
We provide an update on five relatively well motivated inflationary models in which the inflaton is a Standard Model singlet scalar field. These include i) the textbook quadratic and quartic potential models but with additional couplings of the inflaton to fermions and bosons, which enable reheating and also modify the naive predictions for the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and $r$, ii) models with Higgs and Coleman-Weinberg potentials, and finally iii) a quartic potential model with non-minimal coupling of the inflaton to gravity. For $n_s$ values close to 0.96, as determined by the WMAP9 and P…
In this work we investigate the inflationary phenomenological implications of a recently developed ghost-free Gauss-Bonnet theory of gravity. The resulting theory can be viewed as a scalar Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory of gravity, so by employing the formalism for cosmological perturbations for the latter theory, we calculate the slow-roll indices and the observational indices, and we compare these with the latest observational data. Due to the presence of a freely chosen function in the model, in principle any cosmological evolution can be realized, so we specify the Hubble rate and the freely…
We first derive the primordial power spectra, spectral indices and runnings of both scalar and tensor perturbations of a flat inflationary universe to the second-order approximations of the slow-roll parameters, in the framework of loop quantum cosmology with the inverse-volume quantum corrections. This represents an extension of our previous work in which the parameter $σ$ was assumed to be an integer, where $σ$ characterizes the quantum corrections and in general can take any of values from the range $σ\in (0, 6]$. Restricting to the first-order approximations of the slow-roll parameters, we…
Inflation is an early period of accelerated cosmic expansion, thought to be sourced by high energy physics. A key task today is to use the influx of increasingly precise observational data to constrain the plethora of inflationary models suggested by fundamental theories of interactions. This requires a robust theoretical framework for quantifying the predictions of such models; helping to develop such a framework is the aim of this thesis. We provide the first complete quantization of subhorizon perturbations for the well-motivated class of multi-field inflationary models with a non-trivial f…
We study the cosmological constant ($Λ$) in the standard $Λ$CDM model by introducing the \textit{graduated dark energy} (gDE) characterised by a minimal dynamical deviation from the null inertial mass density of the $Λ$ in the form $ρ_{\rm inert}\propto ρ^λ<0$ with $λ<1$ being a ratio of two odd integers, for which its energy density $ρ$ dynamically takes negative values in the finite past. For large negative values of $λ$, it creates a phenomenological model described by a smooth function that approximately describes the $Λ$ spontaneously switching sign in the late universe to become positive…
We present new constraints on possible features in the primordial inflationary density perturbations power spectrum in light of the recent Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies measurements from the Planck satellite. We found that the Planck data hints for the presence of features in two different ranges of angular scales, corresponding to multipoles 10< l <60 and 150< l < 300, with a decrease in the best fit chi^2 value with respect to the featureless "vanilla" LCDM model of Delta chi^2 around 9 in both cases.
Highly suppressed tensor-to-scalar ratio from a modified Lennard-Jones inflationary potential
University of Thessaly(色萨利大学);National Observatory of Athens(雅典国家天文台);Academy of Athens(雅典科学院);European University Cyprus(塞浦路斯欧洲大学);University of Science and Technology of China(中国科学技术大学)
In this paper we study possible observational consequences of the bouncing cosmology. We consider a model where a phase of inflation is preceded by a cosmic bounce. While we consider in this paper only that the bounce is due to loop quantum gravity, most of the results presented here can be applied for different bouncing cosmologies. We concentrate on the scenario where the scalar field, as the result of contraction of the universe, is driven from the bottom of the potential well. The field is amplified, and finally the phase of the standard slow-roll inflation is realized. Such an evolution m…
Reheating is the the epoch which connects inflation to the subsequent hot Big-Bang phase. Conceptually very important, this era is however observationally poorly known. We show that the current Planck satellite measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies constrain the kinematic properties of the reheating era for most of the inflationary models. This result is obtained by deriving the marginalized posterior distributions of the reheating parameter for about 200 models taken in Encyclopaedia Inflationaris. Weighted by the statistical evidence of each model to explain the …
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…
In this work, we use an observational approach and dynamical system analysis to study the cosmological model recently proposed by Saridakis (2020), which is based on the modification of the entropy-area black hole relation proposed by Barrow (2020). The Friedmann equations governing the dynamics of the Universe under this entropy modification can be calculated through the gravity-thermodynamics conjecture. We investigate two models, one considering only a matter component and the other including matter and radiation, which have new terms compared to the standard model sourcing the late cosmic …
Recently a class of inflationary models satisfying the constant rate of roll constraint, $\ddotϕ+(3+α)H\dotϕ=0$, has been studied and compared with the latest cosmological observational data. We consider the broader class of constraints $ \ddotϕ+\frac{α_1}{2}\dotϕ+α_2 H\dotϕ=0$ and find an exact particular solution, without initial singularity, which is an attractor of the dynamics governed by a positive periodic potential $V(ϕ)=E+ F \cos (Ωϕ)+G \cos (2 Ωϕ)$. The spectral index $n_s$ and the tensor to scalar ratio $r$ are consistent with the recent observational data.
We perform a detailed analysis on a primordial gravitational-wave background amplified during a Kasner-like pre-inflationary phase allowing for general triaxial anisotropies. It is found that the predicted angular distribution map of gravitational-wave intensity on large scales exhibits topologically distinctive patterns according to the degree of the pre-inflationary anisotropy, thereby serving as a potential probe for the pre-inflationary early universe with future all-sky observations of gravitational waves. We also derive an observational limit on the amplitude of such anisotropic gravitat…
We consider observational effects of a running effective Planck mass in the scalar-tensor gravity theory. At the background level, an increasing effective Planck mass allows a larger Hubble constant $H_0$, which is more compatible with the local direct measurements. At the perturbative level, for cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies, an increasing effective Planck mass ($i$) suppresses the unlensed CMB power at $\ell \lesssim 30$ via the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and ($ii$) enhances CMB lensing power. Both effects slightly relax the tension between the current CMB data from the P…
Following a new microlensing constraint on primordial black holes (PBHs) with $\sim10^{20}$--$10^{28}\,\mathrm{g}$~[1], we revisit the idea of PBH as all Dark Matter (DM). We have shown that the updated observational constraints suggest the viable mass function for PBHs as all DM to have a peak at $\simeq 10^{20}\,\mathrm{g}$ with a small width $σ\lesssim 0.1$, by imposing observational constraints on an extended mass function in a proper way. We have also provided an inflation model that successfully generates PBHs as all DM fulfilling this requirement.
The observational data on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background constraints the scalar spectral tilt $n_s$ and the tensor to scalar ratio $r$ which depend on the first and second derivatives of the inflaton potential. The information can be used to reconstruct the inflaton potential in the polynomial form up to some orders. However, for some classes of potentials, $n_s$ and $r$ behave as $n_s(N)$ and $r(N)$ universally in terms of the number of e-folds $N$. The universal behaviour of $n_s(N)$ can be used to reconstruct a class of inflaton potentials. By parametrizing one of the par…
In this paper the focus is on inflationary dynamics in the context of Einstein Gauss-Bonnet gravitational theories. We investigate the implications of the slow-roll condition on the slow-roll indices and we investigate how the inflationary dynamical evolution is affected by the presence of the Gauss-Bonnet coupling to the scalar field. For exemplification of our analysis we investigate how the dynamics of inflationary cubic, quartic order and also exponential scalar potentials are affected by the non-trivial Gauss-Bonnet coupling to the scalar field. As we demonstrate it is possible to obtain …
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…
This paper is devoted to the analysis of a class of $F(R)$ gravity, where additional logarithmic corrections are assumed. The gravitational action includes an exponential term and a $R^2$ inflationary term, both with logarithmic corrections. This model can unify an early time inflationary era and also the late time acceleration of the universe expansion. This model is deeply analysed, confronting with recent observational data coming from the largest Pantheon Type Ia supernovae sample, the latest measurements of the Hubble parameter $H(z)$, manifestations of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and Co…
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…
We study quintessential inflation using a generalized exponential potential $V(ϕ)\propto exp(-λϕ^n/Mpl^n), n>1$, the model admits slow-roll inflation at early times and leads to close-to-scaling behaviour in the post inflationary era with an exit to dark energy at late times. We present detailed investigations of the inflationary stage in the light of the Planck 2015 results, study post-inflationary dynamics and analytically confirm the existence of an approximately scaling solution. Additionally, assuming that standard massive neutrinos are non-minimally coupled, makes the field $ϕ$ dominant …
Inflation may provide unique insight into the physics at the highest available energy scales that cannot be replicated in any realistic terrestrial experiment. Features in the primordial power spectrum are generically predicted in a wide class of models of inflation and its alternatives, and are observationally one of the most overlooked channels for finding evidence for non-minimal inflationary models. Constraints from observations of the cosmic microwave background cover the widest range of feature frequencies, but the most sensitive constraints will come from future large-scale structure su…
We present three non-parametric Bayesian primordial reconstructions using Planck 2018 polarization data: linear spline primordial power spectrum reconstructions, cubic spline inflationary potential reconstructions and sharp-featured primordial power spectrum reconstructions. All three methods conditionally show hints of an oscillatory feature in the primordial power spectrum in the multipole range $\ell\sim20$ to $\ell\sim50$, which is to some extent preserved upon marginalization. We find no evidence for deviations from a pure power law across a broad observable window ($50\lesssim\ell\lesssi…
The simplest inflationary models predict a primordial power spectrum (PPS) of the curvature fluctuations that can be described by a power-law function that is nearly scale-invariant. It has been shown, however, that the low-multipole spectrum of the CMB anisotropies may hint the presence of some features in the shape of the scalar PPS, which could deviate from its canonical power-law form. We study the possible degeneracies of this non-standard PPS with the neutrino anisotropies, the neutrino masses, the effective number of relativistic species and a sterile neutrino or a thermal axion mass. 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…
Inflationary attractors predict the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio to take specific values that are consistent with Planck. An example is the universal attractor for models with a generalised non-minimal coupling, leading to Starobinsky inflation. In this paper we demonstrate that it also predicts a specific relation between the amplitude of the power spectrum and the number of e-folds. The length and height of the inflationary plateau are related via the non-minimal coupling: in a wide variety of examples, the observed power normalisation leads to at least 55 flat e-foldings. Prior…
During the inflationary epoch,geometry of the universe may be described by quasi-de Sitter space. On the other hand,maximally extended de Sitter metric in the comoving coordinates accords with a special FLRW model with positive spatial curvature,so in this article we focus on the positively curved inflationary paradigm.For this purpose,first we derive the power spectra of comoving curvature perturbation and primordial gravitational waves in a positively curved FLRW universe according to the slowly rolling inflationary senario. It can be shown that the curvature spectral index in this model aut…
After Planck 2013, a broad class of inflationary models called α-attractors was developed which has universal observational predictions. For small values of the parameter α, the models have good consistency with the recent CMB data. In this work, we first calculate analytically (and verify numerically) the predictions of these models for spectral index, n_s and tensor-to-scalar ratio, r and then using BICEP2/Keck 2015 data we impose constraints on α-attractors. Then, we study the reheating in α-attractors. The reheating temperature, T_{re} and the number of e-folds during reheating, N_{re} are…
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 analyze a class of generalized inflationary models proposed in Ref. [1], known as $β$-exponential inflation. We show that this kind of potential can arise in the context of brane cosmology, where the field describing the size of the extra-dimension is interpreted as the inflaton. We discuss the observational viability of this class of model in light of the latest Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data from the Planck Collaboration through a Bayesian analysis, and impose tight constraints on the model parameters. We find that the CMB data alone prefer \textit{weakly} the minimal standard mod…