Inflation after Planck and BICEP2

TL;DR

This paper reviews how Planck and BICEP2 data test inflationary models by analyzing cosmic microwave background anisotropies, constraining model parameters, and evaluating their viability.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of inflation models in light of recent observational data, linking theoretical parameters to observable anisotropies.

Findings

Certain inflation models are favored or disfavored based on data

Constraints on curvature power spectrum parameters are established

Methodology for testing inflation models with CMB data is outlined

Abstract

We discuss the inflationary paradigm, how it can be tested, and how various models of inflation fare in the light of data from Planck and BICEP2. We introduce inflation and reheating, and discuss temperature and polarisation anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation due to quantum fluctuations during inflation. Fitting observations of the anisotropies with theoretical realisations obtained by varying various parameters of the curvature power spectrum and cosmological parameters enables one to obtain the allowed ranges of these parameters. We discuss how to relate these parameters to inflation models which allows one to rule in or out specific models of inflation.