39 research outputs found
Local non-Gaussianity from inflation
The non-Gaussian distribution of primordial perturbations has the potential
to reveal the physical processes at work in the very early Universe. Local
models provide a well-defined class of non-Gaussian distributions that arise
naturally from the non-linear evolution of density perturbations on
super-Hubble scales starting from Gaussian field fluctuations during inflation.
I describe the delta-N formalism used to calculate the primordial density
perturbation on large scales and then review several models for the origin of
local primordial non-Gaussianity, including the cuvaton, modulated reheating
and ekpyrotic scenarios. I include an appendix with a table of sign conventions
used in specific papers.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure, invited review to appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravity special issue on non-linear and non-Gaussian cosmological
perturbation
Large non-Gaussianity from two-component hybrid inflation
We study the generation of non-Gaussianity in models of hybrid inflation with
two inflaton fields, (2-brid inflation). We analyse the region in the parameter
and the initial condition space where a large non-Gaussianity may be generated
during slow-roll inflation which is generally characterised by a large f_NL,
tau_NL and a small g_NL. For certain parameter values we can satisfy
tau_NL>>f_NL^2. The bispectrum is of the local type but may have a significant
scale dependence. We show that the loop corrections to the power spectrum and
bispectrum are suppressed during inflation, if one assume that the fields
follow a classical background trajectory. We also include the effect of the
waterfall field, which can lead to a significant change in the observables
after the waterfall field is destabilised, depending on the couplings between
the waterfall and inflaton fields.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures; v2: comments and references added, typos
corrected, matches published versio
Conditions for large non-Gaussianity in two-field slow-roll inflation
We study the level of primordial non-Gaussianity in slow-roll two-field
inflation. Using an analytic formula for the nonlinear parameter f_nl in the
case of a sum or product separable potential, we find that it is possible to
generate significant non-Gaussianity even during slow-roll inflation with
Gaussian perturbations at Hubble exit. In this paper we give the general
conditions to obtain large non-Gaussianity and calculate the level of
fine-tuning required to obtain this. We present explicit models in which the
non-Gaussianity at the end of inflation can exceed the current observational
bound of |f_nl|<100.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, v2: typos corrected and references
added, matches version accepted by JCA
Infrared effects in inflationary correlation functions
In this article, I briefly review the status of infrared effects which occur
when using inflationary models to calculate initial conditions for a subsequent
hot, dense plasma phase. Three types of divergence have been identified in the
literature: secular, "time-dependent" logarithms, which grow with time spent
outside the horizon; "box-cutoff" logarithms, which encode a dependence on the
infrared cutoff when calculating in a finite-sized box; and "quantum"
logarithms, which depend on the ratio of a scale characterizing new physics to
the scale of whatever process is under consideration, and whose interpretation
is the same as conventional field theory. I review the calculations in which
these divergences appear, and discuss the methods which have been developed to
deal with them.Comment: Invited review for focus section of Classical & Quantum Gravity on
nonlinear and nongaussian perturbation theory. Some improvements compared to
version which will appear in CQG, especially in Sec. 2.3. 30 pages +
references
Evolution of fNL to the adiabatic limit
We study inflationary perturbations in multiple-field models, for which zeta
typically evolves until all isocurvature modes decay--the "adiabatic limit". We
use numerical methods to explore the sensitivity of the nonlinear parameter fNL
to the process by which this limit is achieved, finding an appreciable
dependence on model-specific data such as the time at which slow-roll breaks
down or the timescale of reheating. In models with a sum-separable potential
where the isocurvature modes decay before the end of the slow-roll phase we
give an analytic criterion for the asymptotic value of fNL to be large. Other
examples can be constructed using a waterfall field to terminate inflation
while fNL is transiently large, caused by descent from a ridge or convergence
into a valley. We show that these two types of evolution are distinguished by
the sign of the bispectrum, and give approximate expressions for the peak fNL.Comment: v1: 25 pages, plus Appendix and bibliography, 6 figures. v2: minor
edits to match published version in JCA
Classical approximation to quantum cosmological correlations
We investigate up to which order quantum effects can be neglected in
calculating cosmological correlation functions after horizon exit. As a toy
model, we study theory on a de Sitter background for a massless
minimally coupled scalar field . We find that for tree level and one loop
contributions in the quantum theory, a good classical approximation can be
constructed, but for higher loop corrections this is in general not expected to
be possible. The reason is that loop corrections get non-negligible
contributions from loop momenta with magnitude up to the Hubble scale H, at
which scale classical physics is not expected to be a good approximation to the
quantum theory. An explicit calculation of the one loop correction to the two
point function, supports the argument that contributions from loop momenta of
scale are not negligible. Generalization of the arguments for the toy model
to derivative interactions and the curvature perturbation leads to the
conclusion that the leading orders of non-Gaussian effects generated after
horizon exit, can be approximated quite well by classical methods. Furthermore
we compare with a theorem by Weinberg. We find that growing loop corrections
after horizon exit are not excluded, even in single field inflation.Comment: 44 pages, 1 figure; v2: corrected errors, added references,
conclusions unchanged; v3: added section in which we compare with stochastic
approach; this version matches published versio
The hybrid inflation waterfall and the primordial curvature perturbation
Without demanding a specific form for the inflaton potential, we obtain an
estimate of the contribution to the curvature perturbation generated during the
linear era of the hybrid inflation waterfall. The spectrum of this contribution
peaks at some wavenumber , and goes like for , making it
typically negligible on cosmological scales. The scale can be outside the
horizon at the end of inflation, in which case \zeta=- (g^2 - \vev{g^2}) with
gaussian. Taking this into account, the cosmological bound on the abundance
of black holes is likely to be satisfied if the curvaton mass much bigger
than the Hubble parameter , but is likely to be violated if m\lsim H.
Coming to the contribution to from the rest of the waterfall, we are
led to consider the use of the `end-of-inflation' formula, giving the
contribution to generated during a sufficiently sharp transition from
nearly-exponential inflation to non-inflation, and we state for the first time
the criterion for the transition to be sufficiently sharp. Our formulas are
applied to supersymmetric GUT inflation and to supernatural/running-mass
inflationComment: very minor change