Novel CMB constraints on the $\alpha$ parameter in alpha-attractor models

Understand

Cosmological $\alpha$-attractors are a compelling class of inflationary models.

• They lead to universal predictions for large-scale observables, broadly independent from the functional form of the inflaton potential.
• In this work we derive improved analytical predictions for the large-scale observables, whose dependence on the duration of reheating and the parameter $\alpha$ is made explicit.
• We compare these with Planck and BICEP/Keck 2018 data in the framework of a Bayesian study, employing uniform logarithmic and linear priors for $\alpha$.