Higgs inflation and its extensions and the further refining dS swampland conjecture

On the one hand, Andriot and Roupec (Fortsch Phys, 1800105, 2019) proposed an alternative refined de Sitter conjecture, which gives a natural condition on a combination of the first and second derivatives of the scalar potential (Andriot and Roupec 2019). On the other hand, in our previous article (Liu in Eur Phys J Plus 136:901, 2021) , we have found that Palatini Higgs inflation model is in strong tension with the refined de Sitter swampland conjecture (Liu 2021). Therefore, following our previous research, in this article we examine if Higgs inflation model and its two variations: Palatini Higgs inflation and Higgs-Dilaton model (Rubio in Front Astron Space Sci, 10.3389/fspas.2018.00050, 2019) can satisfy the “further refining de Sitter swampland conjecture” or not. Based on observational data (Ade et al., Phys Rev Lett 121:221301, 2018; Akrami et al., Planck 2018 results. X. Constraints on inflation, arXiv:1807.06211 [astro-ph.CO], 2018; Aghanim et al., Planck 2018 results: VI. Cosmological parameters, arXiv:1807.06209 [astro-ph.CO], 2018), we find that these three inflationary models can always satisfy this new swampland conjecture if only we adjust the relevant parameters a, $$b = 1-a$$ b = 1 - a and q. Therefore, if the “further refining de Sitter swampland conjecture” does indeed hold, then the three inflationary models might all be in “landscape”.

BICEP/Keck and cosmological attractors

We discuss implications of the latest BICEP/Keck data release for inflationary models, with special emphasis on the cosmological attractors which can describe all presently available inflation-related observational data. These models are compatible with any value of the tensor to scalar ratio r, all the way down to r = 0. Some of the string theory motivated models of this class predict 10-3 ≤ r ≤ 10-2. The upper part of this range can be explored by the ongoing BICEP/Keck observations.

Implications of single field inflation in general cosmological scenarios on the nature of dark energy given the swampland conjectures

Swampland Conjectures have attracted quite some interest in the Cosmological Community. They have been shown to have wide ranging implications, like constraints on inflationary models, primordial black holes, etc. to name a few. A particularly revealing insight on dark energy also shows that one can have the dark energy equation-of-state for a quintessence scenario to be significantly different than [Formula: see text] after one takes into account the refined dS conjecture. Another interesting issue with the swampland conjectures is that they have been shown to be incompatible with single field inflationary models in GR-based cosmology. In our previous work, we have, however, shown that single field inflationary models are quite compatible with swampland conjectures in their usual string theoretic form in a large class of modified cosmological scenarios. Building on that work, we now show that in modified cosmological scenarios where the early universe expansion was driven by single field inflation, one can have the dark energy equation of state to be significantly different from [Formula: see text] even if we just take into account the original dS conjecture, let alone the refined form of that. We thereby show that one does not need to apply a step function approach towards inflation in order to have an observable distinction between constant and non-constant dark energy models in the context of the swampland conjectures.

On stringy inflation potentials

We investigate cosmological inflation models from Randall–Sundrum brane physics. In particular, we examine certain cosmological parameters for two potentials, being a logarithmical one and open string tachyonic inflation (OSTI). In the presence of the brane tension, we give scalar field constraints providing inflationary models matching with Planck results. Then, we discuss the reheating phase of such models. Precisely, the reheating temperature depends on the potential forms. Among others, we find that OSTI provides small temperatures, supported by GUT scales.

Favored Inflationary Models by Scalar Field Condensate Baryogenesis

We calculate the baryon asymmetry value generated in the Scalar Field Condensate (SCF) baryogenesis model obtained in several inflationary scenarios and different reheating models. We provide analysis of the baryon asymmetry value obtained for more than 70 sets of parameters of the SCF model and the following inflationary scenarios, namely: new inflation, chaotic inflation, Starobinsky inflation, MSSM inflation, quintessential inflation. We considered both cases of efficient thermalization after inflation and delayed thermalization. We have found that the SFC baryogenesis model produces baryon asymmetry orders of magnitude bigger than the observed one for the following inflationary models: new inflation, new inflation model by Shafi and Vilenkin, MSSM inflation, chaotic inflation with high reheating temperature and the simplest Shafi–Vilenkin chaotic inflationary model. Strong diluting mechanisms are needed for these models to reduce the resultant baryon excess at low energies to its observational value today. We have found that a successful generation of the observed baryon asymmetry is possible by the SCF baryogenesis model in Modified Starobinsky inflation, chaotic inflation with low reheating temperature, chaotic inflation in SUGRA, and Quintessential inflation.

Construction of inflationary scenarios with the Gauss–Bonnet term and nonminimal coupling

Inflationary models with a scalar field nonminimally coupled both with the Ricci scalar and with the Gauss–Bonnet term are studied. We propose the way of generalization of inflationary scenarios with the Gauss–Bonnet term and a scalar field minimally coupled with the Ricci scalar to the corresponding scenarios with a scalar field nonminimally coupled with the Ricci scalar. Using the effective potential, we construct a set of models with the same values of the scalar spectral index $$n_s$$ n s and the amplitude of the scalar perturbations $$A_s$$ A s and different values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r.

Deviation from Slow-Roll Regime in the EGB Inflationary Models with r ∼ Ne−1

We consider Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet (EGB) inflationary models using the effective potential approach. We present evolution equations in the slow-roll regime using the effective potential and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. The choice of the effective potential is related to an expression of the spectral index in terms of e-folding number Ne. The satisfaction of the slow-roll regime is mostly related to the form of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. The case of r∼1/Ne2 leads to a generalization of α-attractors inflationary parameters to Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity with exponential effective potential. Moreover, the cosmological attractors include models with r∼1/Ne. And we check the satisfaction of the slow-roll regime during inflation for models with r∼1/Ne.

NGTS 15b, 16b, 17b and 18b: four hot Jupiters from the Next Generation Transit Survey

We report the discovery of four new hot Jupiters with the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). NGTS-15b, NGTS-16b, NGTS-17b, and NGTS-18b are short-period (P < 5d) planets orbiting G-type main sequence stars, with radii and masses between 1.10–1.30 RJ and 0.41–0.76 MJ. By considering the host star luminosities and the planets’ small orbital separations (0.039–0.052 AU), we find that all four hot Jupiters are highly irradiated and therefore occupy a region of parameter space in which planetary inflation mechanisms become effective. Comparison with statistical studies and a consideration of the planets’ high incident fluxes reveals that NGTS-16b, NGTS-17b, and NGTS-18b are indeed likely inflated, although some disparities arise upon analysis with current Bayesian inflationary models. However, the underlying relationships which govern radius inflation remain poorly understood. We postulate that the inclusion of additional hyperparameters to describe latent factors such as heavy element fraction, as well as the addition of an updated catalogue of hot Jupiters, would refine inflationary models, thus furthering our understanding of the physical processes which give rise to inflated planets.