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The superpotential method is a reconstruction technique which has proven useful to build exact cosmological solutions. We here employ the superpotential method in order to reconstruct the features necessary for the inflaton potential to drive inflation and lead to the amplification of the curvature perturbations. Such an amplification, at wavelengths shorter than those observed in the CMB, is necessary in order to have a significant formation of Primordial Black Holes after inflation ends. The technique is applied to the cases of a minimally coupled inflaton, to the non-minimal coupling case and to f(R) theories of gravity. For such theories, a model dependent analysis of the features leading to the scalar spectrum enhancement is also presented., Comment: 30 pages

We make a conceptual overview of a particular approach to the initial-value problem in canonical gauge theories. We stress how the first-class phase-space constraints may be relaxed if we interpret them as fixing the values of new degrees of freedom. This idea goes back to Fock and Stueckelberg, leading to restrictions of the gauge symmetry of a theory, and it corresponds, in certain cases, to promoting constants of Nature to physical fields. Recently, different versions of this formulation have gained considerable attention in the literature, with several independent iterations, particularly in classical and quantum descriptions of gravity, cosmology, and electromagnetism. In particular, in the case of canonical quantum gravity, the Fock--Stueckelberg approach is relevant to the so-called problem of time. Our overview recalls the work of Fock and Stueckelberg and its physical interpretation with the aim of conceptually unifying the different iterations of the idea that appear in the literature and of motivating further research.

We analyze the consequences of different evolutions of the Hubble parameter on the spectrum of scalar inflationary perturbations. The analysis is restricted to inflationary phases described by a transient evolution, when uncommon features arise in the inflationary spectra that may lead to an amplitude enhancement. We then discuss how the spectrum is, respectively, amplified or blue-tilted in the presence or absence of a growing solution of the Mukhanov-Sasaki equation. The cases of general relativity with a minimally coupled inflaton and that of induced gravity are considered explicitly. Finally, some remarks on constant roll inflation are discussed., Comment: references updated, conceptual clarifications added. Matches published version

In the context of canonical quantum gravity, we consider the effects of a non-standard expression for the gravitational wave function on the evolution of inflationary perturbations. Such an expression and its effects may be generated by a sudden variation in the (nearly constant) inflaton potential. The resulting primordial spectra, up to the leading order, are affected in the short and in the long wavelength regime, where an oscillatory behavior with a non-negligible amplitude is superimposed on the standard semiclassical result. Moreover, a novel, non-perturbative, approach is used to study the evolution. Finally, a simplified application is fully illustrated and commented., Comment: references updated, conceptual clarifications added. Matches published version

We consider a procedure of elimination of cosmological singularities similar to that suggested in the recent paper by Simpson and Visser for the construction of regular black holes. It is shown that by imposing a non-singular cosmological evolution with a bounce in a flat Friedmann universe filled with a minimally coupled scalar field, we obtain a transition between the standard scalar field and its phantom counterpart. In this case, the potential of the scalar field has a non-analyticity of the cusp type. This result is also readily reproduced in the case of an anisotropic Bianchi I universe. We have also found a spherically symmetric static solution of the Einstein equations, free of singularities and sustained by a scalar field., Comment: slightly expanded, with updated references and conceptual clarifications. Matches the published version

We study a possible amplification mechanism for the curvature perturbations generated during inflation by a Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflaton in the presence of a sharp feature in the warp factor. The large growth resulting in the scalar power spectrum is a consequence of the decreasing speed of sound. We obtain analytical approximate expressions for the relevant dynamical quantities both in the slow roll phase and during the transient phase which leads to the amplification. We finally compare our approximations to the exact numerical evolution and give, in such a context, the general rules for building a viable inflationary model leading to, during the subsequent radiation dominated era, an abundant primordial black holes formation., Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures. Final version accepted for publication on JCAP

We study a mechanism for the amplification of the inflationary scalar perturbation when the inflaton field action is non-canonical, i.e. the inflaton kinetic term has a non-standard form. For such a case the speed of sound of the perturbations generated during inflation is less than one and in general changes with time. Furthermore in such models, even when the scalar field potential is negligible, diverse inflationary attractors may exist. The possible effects of a speed of sound approaching zero during some stage of inflation may lead to a large amplification for the amplitude of the scalar spectrum which, on horizon re-entry during the radiation dominated phase, can collapse and form primordial black holes (PBH) of a mass $M_{\rm BH}\sim 10^{-15}M_{\odot}$ which may constitute a large fraction of the total Dark Matter (DM) today., Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. References added. Final version published on PLB

We study static spherically and hyperbolically symmetric solutions of the Einstein equations in the presence of a conformally coupled scalar field and compare them with those in the space filled with a minimally coupled scalar field. We then study the Kantowski-Sachs cosmological solutions, which are connected with the static solutions by the duality relations. The main ingredient of these relations is an exchange of roles between the radial and the temporal coordinates, combined with the exchange between the spherical and hyperbolical two-dimensional geometries. A brief discussion of questions such as the relation between the Jordan and the Einstein frames and the description of the singularity crossing is also presented., Comment: The final version, published in Physical Review D, the title is changed and some references and comments are added

We compare two different approaches to the treatment of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and the introduction of time in quantum cosmology. One approach is based on the gauge-fixing procedure in theories with first-class constraints, while the other uses the Born-Oppenheimer method. We apply both to a very simple cosmological model and observe that they give similar predictions. We also discuss the problem of time in non-relativistic quantum mechanics and some questions concerning the correspondence between classical and quantum theories., Comment: 9 pages

We illustrate and examine diverse approaches to the quantum matter-gravity system which refer to the Born-Oppenheimer (BO) method. In particular we first examine a quantum geometrodynamical approach introduced by other authors in a manner analogous to that previously employed by us, so as to include back reaction and non-adiabatic contributions. On including such effects it is seen that the unitarity violating effects previously found disappear. A quantum loop space formulation (based on a hybrid quantisation, polymer for gravitation and canonical for matter) also refers to the BO method. It does not involve the classical limit for gravitation and has a highly peaked initial scalar field state. We point out that it does not resemble in any way to our traditional BO approach. Instead it does resemble an alternative, canonically quantised, non BO approach which we have also previously discussed., Comment: 14 pages, no figures

We study the constraints imposed by the requirement of Asymptotic Safety on a class of inflationary models with an inflaton field non-minimally coupled to the Ricci scalar. The critical surface in the space of theories is determined by the improved renormalization group flow which takes into account quantum corrections beyond the one loop approximation. The combination of constraints deriving from Planck observations and those from theory puts severe bounds on the values of the parameters of the model and predicts a quite large tensor to scalar ratio. We finally comment on the dependence of the results on the definition of the infrared energy scale which parametrises the running on the critical surface., Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, final version accepted for publication in JCAP

We consider a rather simple method for the description of the Big Bang - Big Crunch cosmological singularity crossing. For the flat Friedmann universe this method gives the same results as more complicated methods, using Weyl symmetry or the transitions between the Jordan and Einstein frames. It is then easily generalized for the case of a Bianchi-I anisotropic universe. We also present early-time and late-time asymptotic solutions for a Bianchi-I universe, filled with a conformally coupled massless scalar field., Comment: 11 pages, v2: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

We illustrate how it is possible to calculate the quantum gravitational effects on the spectra of primordial scalar/tensor perturbations starting from the canonical, Wheeler-De Witt, approach to quantum cosmology. The composite matter-gravity system is analysed through a Born-Oppenheimer approach in which gravitation is associated with the heavy degrees of freedom and matter (here represented by a scalar field) with the light ones. Once the independent degrees of freedom are identified the system is canonically quantised. The differential equation governing the dynamics of the primordial spectra with its quantum-gravitational corrections is then obtained and is applied to diverse inflationary evolutions. Finally, the analytical results are compared to observations through a Monte Carlo Markov Chain technique and an estimate of the free parameters of our approach is finally presented and the results obtained are compared with previous ones., Comment: 42 pages, 4 figures

The conditions for the cancellation of one loop contributions to vacuum energy (both U.V. divergent and finite) coming from the known (Standard Model) fields and the field associated with the hypothetical 750 Gev diphoton excess are examined. Depending on the nature of this latter resonance we find that in order to satisfy the constraints (sum rules) different additional, minimal field contributions are required, leading to yet to be observed particles., Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0804.4782

We study the relation between the Jordan-Einstein frame transition and the possible description of the crossing of singularities in flat Friedmann universes, using the fact that the regular evolution in one frame can correspond to crossing singularities in the other frame. We show that some interesting effects arise in simple models such as one with a massless scalar field or another wherein the potential is constant in the Einstein frame. The dynamics in these models and in their conformally coupled counterparts are described in detail, and a method for the continuation of such cosmological evolutions beyond the singularity is developed. We compare our approach with some other, recently developed, approaches to the problem of the crossing of singularities., Comment: 15 pages, v2: title changed, presentation improved, references added, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

The spectrum of primordial perturbations obtained by calculating the quantum gravitational corrections to the dynamics of scalar perturbations is compared with Planck 2013 and BICEP2/{\it Keck Array} public data. The quantum gravitational effects are calculated in the context of a Wheeler-De Witt approach and have quite distinctive features. We constrain the free parameters of the theory by comparison with observations., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures; the analysis has been updated with the combined Planck-BICEP2/Keck Array public data. Final version, accepted for publication in JCAP

We solve a general equation describing the lowest order corrections arising from quantum gravitational effects to the spectrum of cosmological fluctuations. The spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations are calculated to first order in the slow roll approximation and the results are compared with the most recent observations. The slow roll approximation gives qualitatively new quantum gravitational effects with respect to the pure de Sitter case., Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures; final version accepted for publication in PLB

A general equation, describing the lowest order corrections coming from quantum gravitational effects to the spectrum of cosmological scalar fluctuations is obtained. These corrections are explicitly estimated for the case of a de Sitter evolution., Comment: 13 pages, no figures. Final version, accepted for publication in PLB

We study the cosmological evolution of an induced gravity model with a scale symmetry breaking potential for the scalar field. The radiation to matter transition, following inflation and reheating, influences the dynamics of such a field through its non minimal coupling. We illustrate how, under certain conditions on the potential, such a dynamics can lead to a suitable amount of dark energy explaining the present accelerated expansion., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures

We develop a technique for the reconstruction of the potential for a scalar field in cosmological models based on induced gravity. The potentials reproducing cosmological evolutions driven by barotropic perfect fluids, a cosmological constant, a Chaplygin gas and a modified Chaplygin gas are constructed explicitly., Comment: 14 pages, no figures. Final version published in PLB

We study possible back-reaction and quantum gravity effects in the evaporation of black holes which could be produced at the LHC through a modification of the Hawking emission. The corrections are phenomenologically taken into account by employing a modified relation between the black hole mass and temperature. The usual assumption that black holes explode around $1 $TeV is also released, and the evaporation process is extended to (possibly much) smaller final masses. We show that these effects could be observable for black holes produced with a relatively large mass and should therefore be taken into account when simulating micro-black hole events for the experiments planned at the LHC., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, extended version of hep-ph/0601243 with new analysis of final products, final version accepted for publication in J. Phys. G

We derive the semiclassical evolution of massless minimally coupled scalar matter in the de Sitter space-time from the Born-Oppenheimer reduction of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. We show that the dynamics of trans-Planckian modes can be cast in the form of an effective modified dispersion relation and that high energy corrections in the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation produced during inflation remain very small if the initial state is the Bunch-Davies vacuum., Comment: 6 pages, no figures, final version to appear in PRD