Inflation Scenarios

• initial conditions:
  Linde's chaotic inflaton field
• scalar field dominance (Guth 1981)
• slow roll
• graceful exit
• reheating

Models for Inflation

Inflation and Inhomogeneity

• Classical flatness
• Quantum perturbations
• perturbation freeze-in at horizon crossing (Carlstrom, Crawford, Knox 2015)
• modes leaving and re-entering Hubble sphere
• tensor pertubations: primordial gravitational waves, spectrum in context

Inflation Scorecard

• sketch of tests so far: CMB