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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 469 records · Page 26
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DOE OSTI2014

Supergravity inflation with broken shift symmetry and large tensor-to-scalar ratio

We propose a class of inflation models with potential V(φ) = αφ{sup n}exp(−β{sup m}φ{sup m}). We show that such kind of inflaton potentials can be realized in supergravity theory with a small shift symmetry breaking term in the K and quot;ahler potential. We find that the models with (m = 1,n = 1), (m = 1,n = 2), (m = 2,n = 1), and (m = 2,n = 3/2) can easily accommodate the Planck results. In particular, the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than 0.01 in the 1σ region. Thus, these models generate the typical large field inflation, and can be tested at the future Planck and QUBIC experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Planck constraints on monodromy inflation

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{sup 2} ≈ 10 and we find no evidence for a primordial signal, in contrast to a previous analysis of the WMAP9 dataset, for which Δχ{sup 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 consistent with a fit to the ''noise'' associated with cosmic variance. Our results motivate both a detailed comparison between the two experiments and a more careful study of the theoretical predictions of monodromy inflation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spectroscopy of masses and couplings during inflation

In this work, we extend the idea of Quasi Single Field inflation [1] to the case of multiple isocurvaton fields with masses of order of Hubble, which are coupled kinetically to the inflaton field and have some interactions among themselves. We consider the effects of these massive modes in both the size and the shape of the bispectrum. We show that the shape of the bispectrum in the squeezed limit is dominated by the lightest field and is the same as in Quasi Single Field inflation. This is a generic feature of multiple isocurvaton fields and is independent of the details of the interactions among the massive fields. When the isocurvaton fields have similar masses, we can potentially distinguish two different shapes in the squeezed limit so that the shape of the bispectrum can act as a particle detector. However, in the presence of hierarchy among the massive fields, the dominant effect is due to the lightest field.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

UV-extending ghost inflation

We present a setup that provides a partial UV-completion of the ghost inflation model up to a scale which can be almost as high as the Planck mass. This is achieved by coupling the inflaton to the Lorentz-violating sector described by the Einstein-aether theory or its khronometric version. Compared to previous works on ghost inflation our setup allows to go beyond the study of small perturbations and include the background dynamics in a unified framework. In the specific regime when the expansion of the Universe is dominated by the kinetic energy of the inflaton we find that the model predicts rather high tensor-to-scalar ratio r ∼ 0.02÷0.2 and non-Gaussianity of equilateral type with f{sub NL} in the range from -50 to -5.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Constraints on gauge field production during inflation

In order to gain new insights into the gauge field couplings in the early universe, we consider the constraints on gauge field production during inflation imposed by requiring that their effect on the CMB anisotropies are subdominant. In particular, we calculate systematically the bispectrum of the primordial curvature perturbation induced by the presence of vector gauge fields during inflation. Using a model independent parametrization in terms of magnetic non-linearity parameters, we calculate for the first time the contribution to the bispectrum from the cross correlation between the inflaton and the magnetic field defined by the gauge field. We then demonstrate that in a very general class of models, the bispectrum induced by the cross correlation between the inflaton and the magnetic field can be dominating compared with the non-Gaussianity induced by magnetic fields when the cross correlation between the magnetic field and the inflaton is ignored.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optimal bispectrum constraints on single-field models of inflation

We use WMAP 9-year bispectrum data to constrain the free parameters of an 'effective field theory' describing fluctuations in single-field inflation. The Lagrangian of the theory contains a finite number of operators associated with unknown mass scales. Each operator produces a fixed bispectrum shape, which we decompose into partial waves in order to construct a likelihood function. Based on this likelihood we are able to constrain four linearly independent combinations of the mass scales. As an example of our framework we specialize our results to the case of 'Dirac-Born-Infeld' and 'ghost' inflation and obtain the posterior probability for each model, which in Bayesian schemes is a useful tool for model comparison. Our results suggest that DBI-like models with two or more free parameters are disfavoured by the data by comparison with single-parameter models in the same class.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Topological inflation with large tensor-to-scalar ratio

BICEP2's detection on the primordial B-mode of CMB polarization suggests that inflation occurred around GUT scale, with the tensor-to-scalar ratio r≅0.2. Inspired by this discosvery, we study the topological inflation which was driven by a double/single/no well potential. We show that with proper choice of parameters, all these three types of topological inflationary models could be consistent with the constraints from current observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Covariant second-order perturbations in generalized two-field inflation

We examine the covariant properties of generalized models of two-field inflation, with non-canonical kinetic terms and a possibly non-trivial field metric. We demonstrate that kinetic-term derivatives and covariant field derivatives do commute in a proper covariant framework, which was not realized before in the literature. We also define a set of generalized slow-roll parameters, using a unified notation. Within this framework, we study the most general class of models that allows for well-defined adiabatic and entropic sound speeds, which we identify as the models with parallel momentum and field velocity vectors. For these models we write the exact cubic action in terms of the adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations. We thus provide the tool to calculate the exact non-Gaussianity beyond slow-roll and at any scale for these generalized models. We illustrate our general results by considering their long-wavelength limit, as well as with the example of two-field DBI inflation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The effects of a fast-turning trajectory in multiple-field inflation

The latest results from Planck impose strong constraints on features in the spectrum of the curvature perturbations from inflation. We analyse the possibility of particle production induced by sharp turns of the trajectory in field space in inflation models with multiple fields. Although the evolution of the background fields can be altered by particle production, we find rather modest changes in the power spectrum even for the most extreme case in which the entire kinetic energy of the scalar fields is converted into particles.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Superimposed oscillations in brane inflation

In canonical scalar field inflation, the Starobinsky model (with a linear potential but discontinuous slope) is remarkable in that though slow-roll is violated, both the power-spectrum and bi-spectrum can be calculated exactly analytically. The two-point function is characterised by different power on large and small scales, and a burst of small amplitude superimposed oscillations in between. We extend this analysis to Dirac Born Infeld (DBI) inflation, for which generalised slow-roll is violated at the discontinuity and a rapid variation in the speed of sound c{sub S} occurs. In an attempt to characterise the effect of non-linear kinetic terms on the oscillatory features of the primordial power-spectrum, we show that the resulting power spectrum has a shape and features which differ significantly from those of the standard Starobinsky model. In particular, when c{sub S} is small, the power-spectrum now takes very similar scale invariant values on large and small scales, while on intermediate scales it is characterised by much larger amplitude and higher frequency superimposed oscillations. We also show that calculating non-Gaussianities in this model is a complicated but interesting task since all terms in the cubic action now contribute. Investigating whether the superimposed oscillations could fit to the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data (for instance by explaining the large scale Planck anomalies) with, at the same time, small non-Gaussianities remains an intriguing and open possibility.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Blue tensor spectrum from particle production during inflation

We discuss a mechanism of particle production during inflation that can result in a blue gravitational wave (GW) spectrum, compatible with the BICEP2 result and with the r < 0.11 limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at the Planck pivot scale. The mechanism is based on the production of vector quanta from a rolling pseudo-scalar field. Both the vector and the pseudo-scalar are only gravitationally coupled to the inflaton, to keep the production of inflaton quanta at an unobservable level (the overproduction of non-gaussian scalar perturbations is a generic difficulty for mechanisms that aim to generate a visible GW signal from particle production during inflation). This mechanism can produce a detectable amount of GWs for any inflationary energy scale. The produced GWs are chiral and non-gaussian; both these aspects can be tested with large-scale polarization data (starting from Planck). We study how to reconstruct the pseudo-scalar potential from the GW spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Radiative inflation and dark energy RIDEs again after BICEP2

Following the ground-breaking measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r=0.20{sup +0.07}{sub -0.05} by the BICEP2 collaboration, we perform a statistical analysis of a model that combines Radiative Inflation with Dark Energy (RIDE) based on the M{sup 2}|Φ|{sup 2}ln(|Φ|{sup 2}/Λ{sup 2}) potential and compare its predictions to those based on the traditional chaotic inflation M{sup 2}|Φ|{sup 2} potential. We find a best-fit value in the RIDE model of r=0.18 as compared to r=0.17 in the chaotic model, with the spectral index being n{sub S}=0.96 in both models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Induced-gravity inflation in no-scale supergravity and beyond

Supersymmetric versions of induced-gravity inflation are formulated within Supergravity (SUGRA) employing two gauge singlet chiral superfields. The proposed superpotential is uniquely determined by applying a continuous R and a discrete Z{sub n} symmetry. We select two types of logarithmic Kähler potentials, one associated with a no-scale-type SU(2,1)/SU(2)× U(1){sub R}×Z{sub n} Kähler manifold and one more generic. In both cases, imposing a lower bound on the parameter c{sub R} involved in the coupling between the inflaton and the Ricci scalar curvature — e.g. c{sub R}∼> 76, 105, 310 for n=2,3 and 6 respectively —, inflation can be attained even for subplanckian values of the inflaton while the corresponding effective theory respects the perturbative unitarity. In the case of no-scale SUGRA we show that, for every n, the inflationary observables remain unchanged and in agreement with the current data while the inflaton mass is predicted to be 3·10{sup 13} GeV. Beyond no-scale SUGRA the inflationary observables depend mildly on n and crucially on the coefficient involved in the fourth order term of the Kähler potential which mixes the inflaton with the accompanying non-inflaton field.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A universal bound on excitations of heavy fields during inflation

We discuss a universal bound on any excitation of heavy fields during inflation: the ratio of the heavy field's energy density to the one driving inflation must be less than the maximally allowed relative amplitude of oscillations in the power-spectrum ρ{sub h}/ρ{sub I} ∼< 0.01 according to PLANCK). This bound can be traced back to the sudden change of the equation of state parameter across the excitation event. We employ a sudden transition approximation at the perturbed level, which has been used before in different settings; we check its validity by comparison to the full multi-field result in a concrete case study involving a sudden mass change of an inflaton.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reconstructing the local potential of inflation with BICEP2 data

We locally reconstruct the inflationary potential by using the current constraints on r and n{sub s} from BICEP2 data. Assuming small and negligible α{sub s}, the inflationary potential is approximately linear in Δφ∼ M{sub pl} range but becomes non-linear in Δφ∼ 10 M{sub pl} range. However if we vary the value of α{sub s} within the range given by constraints from Planck measurement, the local reconstruction is only valid in the range of Δφ∼ 0.4 M{sub pl}, which challenges the inflationary background from the point of view of effective field theory. We show that, within the range of Δ φ ∼ 0.4 M{sub pl}, the inflation potential can be precisely reconstructed. With the current reconstruction, we show that V(φ) ∼ φ{sup 2} and φ{sup 3} are consistent, while φ model is ruled out by 95% confidence level of the reconstructed range of potential. This sets up a strong limit of large-field inflation models.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

On degenerate models of cosmic inflation

In this article we discuss the role of current and future CMB measurements in pinning down the model of inflation responsible for the generation of primordial curvature perturbations. By considering a parameterization of the effective field theory of inflation with a modified dispersion relation arising from heavy fields, we derive the dependence of cosmological observables on the scale of heavy physics Λ{sub UV}. Specifically, we show how the f{sub NL} non-linearity parameters are related to the phase velocity of curvature perturbations at horizon exit, which is parameterized by Λ{sub UV}. BICEP2 and PLANCK findings are shown to be consistent with a value Λ{sub UV} ∼ Λ{sub GUT}. However, we find a degeneracy in the parameter space of inflationary models that can only be resolved with a detailed knowledge of the shape of the non-Gaussian bispectrum.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cosmological observables in multi-field inflation with a non-flat field space

Using δN formalism, in the context of a generic multi-field inflation driven on a non-flat field space background, we revisit the analytic expressions of the various cosmological observables such as scalar/tensor power spectra, scalar/tensor spectral tilts, non-Gaussianity parameters, tensor-to-scalar ratio, and the various runnings of these observables. In our backward formalism approach, the subsequent expressions of observables automatically include the terms beyond the leading order slow-roll expansion correcting many of the expression at subleading order. To connect our analysis properly with the earlier results, we rederive the (well) known (single field) expressions in the limiting cases of our generic formulae. Further, in the light of PLANCK results, we examine for the compatibility of the consistency relations within the slow-roll regime of a two-field roulette poly-instanton inflation realized in the context of large volume scenarios.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Axion monodromy inflation with multi-natural modulations

We study parameter space in the axion monodromy inflation corrected by dynamically generated terms involving with the axion. The potential has the linear term with multiple sinusoidal functions, which play a role in generating modulations. We show that this potential leads both to a large tensor-to-scalar ratio r{sub T} ∼ 0.16 and to a large negative running of spectral index α{sub s} ∼ - (0.02 -0.03), ameliorating the tension between the result of the PLANCK and that of the BICEP2. To realize these results, a small hierarchy among dynamical scales is required whereas the decay constants in sinusoidal functions remain sub-Planckian in this model. We discuss also reheating process after the inflation in a bottom-up approach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗