Matching and running sensitivity in non-renormalizable inflationary
  models
  Most of the inflationary models that are in agreement with the Planck data
rely on the presence of non-renormalizable operators. If the connection to low
energy particle physics is made, the renormalization group (RG) introduces a
sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) physics that can be crucial in determining the
inflationary predictions. We analyse this effect for the Standard Model (SM)
augmented with non-minimal derivative couplings to gravity. Our set-up reduces
to the SM for small values of the Higgs field, and allows for inflation in the
opposite large field regime. The one-loop beta functions in the inflationary
region are calculated using a covariant approach that properly accounts for the
non-trivial structure of the field space manifold. We run the SM parameters
from the electroweak to the inflationary scale, matching the couplings of the
different effective field theories at the boundary between the two regimes,
where we also include threshold corrections that parametrize effects from UV
physics. We then compute the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio and find
that RG flow corrections can be determinant: a scenario that is ruled out at
tree level can be resurrected and vice versa.
