Inflationary cosmology is the leading explanation of the very early universe. Many different models of inflation have been constructed which fit current observational data. In this work theoretical and numerical methods for constraining the parameter
space of a wide class of such models are described. First, string-theoretic models with large non-Gaussian signatures are investigated. An upper bound is placed on the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves produced by ultra-violet Dirac-Born-Infeld inflation. In all but the most finely tuned cases, this bound is incompatible with a lower bound derived for inflationary models which exhibit a red spectrum and detectable non-Gaussianity. By analysing general non-canonical actions, a class of models is found which can evade the upper bound when the phase speed of perturbations is small. The multi-coincident brane scenario with a finite number of branes is one such model. For models with a potentially observable gravitational wave spectrum the number of coincident branes is shown to take only small values. The second method of constraining inflationary models is the numerical calculation of second order perturbations for a general class of single field models. The Klein-Gordon equation at second order, written in terms of scalar field variations only, is numerically solved. The slow roll version of the second order source term is used and the method is shown to be extendable to the full equation. This procedure allows the evolution of second order perturbations in general and the calculation of the non-Gaussianity parameter in cases where there is no analytical solution available.
We derive a closed-form, analytical expression for the spectrum of long-wavelength density perturbations in inflationary models with two (or more) inflaton degrees of freedom that is valid in the slow-roll approximation. We illustrate several classes
of potentials for which this expression reduces to a simple, algebraic expression.
We study the evolution of linear density perturbations in a large spherical void universe which accounts for the acceleration of the cosmic volume expansion without introducing dark energy. The density contrast of this void is not large within the li
ght cone of an observer at the center of the void. Therefore, we describe the void structure as a perturbation with a dimensionless small parameter $kappa$ in a homogeneous and isotropic universe within the region observable for the observer. We introduce additional anisotropic perturbations with a dimensionless small parameter $epsilon$, whose evolution is of interest. Then, we solve perturbation equations up to order $kappa epsilon$ by applying second-order perturbation theory in the homogeneous and isotropic universe model. By this method, we can know the evolution of anisotropic perturbations affected by the void structure. We show that the growth rate of the anisotropic density perturbations in the large void universe is significantly different from that in the homogeneous and isotropic universe. This result suggests that the observation of the distribution of galaxies may give a strong constraint on the large void universe model.
The aim of this paper is the study of thermal vacuum condensate for scalar and fermion fields. We analyze the thermal states at the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and we show that the vacuum expectation value of the energy momen
tum tensor density of photon fields reproduces the energy density and pressure of the CMB. We perform the computations in the formal framework of the thermo field dynamics. We also consider the case of neutrinos and thermal states at the temperature of the neutrino cosmic background. Consistency with the estimated lower bound of the sum of the active neutrino masses is verified. In the boson sector, non trivial contribution to the energy of the universe is given by particles of masses of the order of $10^{-4}eV$ compatible with the ones of the axion-like particles. The fractal self-similar structure of the thermal radiation is also discussed and related to the coherent structure of the thermal vacuum.
We explore whether multifield inflationary models make unambiguous predictions for fundamental cosmological observables. Focusing on $N$-quadratic inflation, we numerically evaluate the full perturbation equations for models with 2, 3, and $mathcal{O
}(100)$ fields, using several distinct methods for specifying the initial values of the background fields. All scenarios are highly predictive, with the probability distribution functions of the cosmological observables becoming more sharply peaked as $N$ increases. For $N=100$ fields, 95% of our Monte Carlo samples fall in the ranges $n_s in (0.9455,0.9534)$; $alpha in (-9.741,-7.047)times 10^{-4}$; $rin(0.1445,0.1449)$; and $r_mathrm{iso} in (0.02137,3.510)times 10^{-3}$ for the spectral index, running, tensor-to-scalar ratio, and isocurvature-to-adiabatic ratio, respectively. The expected amplitude of isocurvature perturbations grows with $N$, raising the possibility that many-field models may be sensitive to post-inflationary physics and suggesting new avenues for testing these scenarios.