2 research outputs found
Higher Curvature Corrections to Primordial Fluctuations in Slow-roll Inflation
We study higher curvature corrections to the scalar spectral index, the
tensor spectral index, the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and the polarization of
gravitational waves. We find that the higher curvature corrections can not be
negligible in the dynamics of the scalar field, although they are energetically
negligible. Indeed, it turns out that the tensor-to-scalar ratio could be
enhanced and the tensor spectral index could be blue due to the Gauss-Bonnet
term. We estimate the degree of circular polarization of gravitational waves
generated during the slow-roll inflation. We argue that the circular
polarization can be observable with the help both of the Gauss-Bonnet and
parity violating terms. We also present several examples to reveal
observational implications of higher curvature corrections for chaotic
inflationary models.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure