A general proof of the equivalence between the \delta N and covariant formalisms

Recently, the equivalence between the \delta N and covariant formalisms has been shown (Suyama et al. 2012), but they essentially assumed Einstein gravity in their proof. They showed that the evolution equation of the curvature covector in the covariant formalism on uniform energy density slicings coincides with that of the curvature perturbation in the \delta N formalism assuming the coincidence of uniform energy and uniform expansion (Hubble) slicings, which is the case on superhorizon scales in Einstein gravity. In this short note, we explicitly show the equivalence between the \delta N and covariant formalisms without specifying the slicing condition and the associated slicing coincidence, in other words, regardless of the gravity theory.Comment: 7 pages,a reference added, to be published in EP

A Statistical Approach to Multifield Inflation: Many-field Perturbations Beyond Slow Roll

We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we compute the primordial perturbations numerically, both exactly and using an array of truncated models. The scalar mass spectrum and the number of fluctuating fields are accurately described by a simple random matrix model. During the approach to the inflection point, bending trajectories and violations of slow roll are commonplace, and 'many-field' effects, in which three or more fields influence the perturbations, are often important. However, in a large fraction of models consistent with constraints on the tilt the signatures of multifield evolution occur on unobservably large scales. Our scenario is a concrete microphysical realization of quasi-single-field inflation, with scalar masses of order $H$, but the cubic and quartic couplings are typically too small to produce detectable non-Gaussianity. We argue that our results are characteristic of a broader class of models arising from multifield potentials that are natural in the Wilsonian sense.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figures. References added. Matches version published in JCA

Massive Gravity on de Sitter and Unique Candidate for Partially Massless Gravity

We derive the decoupling limit of Massive Gravity on de Sitter in an arbitrary number of space-time dimensions d. By embedding d-dimensional de Sitter into d+1-dimensional Minkowski, we extract the physical helicity-1 and helicity-0 polarizations of the graviton. The resulting decoupling theory is similar to that obtained around Minkowski. We take great care at exploring the partially massless limit and define the unique fully non-linear candidate theory that is free of the helicity-0 mode in the decoupling limit, and which therefore propagates only four degrees of freedom in four dimensions. In the latter situation, we show that a new Vainshtein mechanism is at work in the limit m^2\to 2 H^2 which decouples the helicity-0 mode when the parameters are different from that of partially massless gravity. As a result, there is no discontinuity between massive gravity and its partially massless limit, just in the same way as there is no discontinuity in the massless limit of massive gravity. The usual bounds on the graviton mass could therefore equivalently well be interpreted as bounds on m^2-2H^2. When dealing with the exact partially massless parameters, on the other hand, the symmetry at m^2=2H^2 imposes a specific constraint on matter. As a result the helicity-0 mode decouples without even the need of any Vainshtein mechanism.Comment: 30 pages. Some clarifications and references added. New subsection 'Symmetry and Counting in the Full Theory' added. New appendix 'St\"uckelberg fields in the Na\"ive approach' added. Matches version published in JCA

Combined local and equilateral non-Gaussianities from multifield DBI inflation

We study multifield aspects of Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflation. More specifically, we consider an inflationary phase driven by the radial motion of a D-brane in a conical throat and determine how the D-brane fluctuations in the angular directions can be converted into curvature perturbations when the tachyonic instability arises at the end of inflation. The simultaneous presence of multiple fields and non-standard kinetic terms gives both local and equilateral shapes for non-Gaussianities in the bispectrum. We also study the trispectrum, pointing out that it acquires a particular momentum dependent component whose amplitude is given by $f_{NL}^{loc} f_{NL}^{eq}$. We show that this relation is valid in every multifield DBI model, in particular for any brane trajectory, and thus constitutes an interesting observational signature of such scenarios.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figures. Typos corrected; references added. This version matches the one in press by JCA

Primordial Trispectrum from Entropy Perturbations in Multifield DBI Model

We investigate the primordial trispectra of the general multifield DBI inflationary model. In contrast with the single field model, the entropic modes can source the curvature perturbations on the super horizon scales, so we calculate the contributions from the interaction of four entropic modes mediating one adiabatic mode to the trispectra, at the large transfer limit ($T_{RS}\gg1$). We obtained the general form of the 4-point correlation functions, plotted the shape diagrams in two specific momenta configurations, "equilateral configuration" and "specialized configuration". Our figures showed that we can easily distinguish the two different momenta configurations.Comment: 17pages, 7 figures, version to appear in JCA

Statistical nature of non-Gaussianity from cubic order primordial perturbations: CMB map simulations and genus statistic

We simulate CMB maps including non-Gaussianity arising from cubic order perturbations of the primordial gravitational potential, characterized by the non-linearity parameter $g_{NL}$. The maps are used to study the characteristic nature of the resulting non-Gaussian temperature fluctuations. We measure the genus and investigate how it deviates from Gaussian shape as a function of $g_{NL}$ and smoothing scale. We find that the deviation of the non-Gaussian genus curve from the Gaussian one has an antisymmetric, sine function like shape, implying more hot and more cold spots for $g_{NL}>0$ and less of both for $g_{NL}<0$. The deviation increases linearly with $g_{NL}$ and also exhibits mild increase as the smoothing scale increases. We further study other statistics derived from the genus, namely, the number of hot spots, the number of cold spots, combined number of hot and cold spots and the slope of the genus curve at mean temperature fluctuation. We find that these observables carry signatures of $g_{NL}$ that are clearly distinct from the quadratic order perturbations, encoded in the parameter $f_{NL}$. Hence they can be very useful tools for distinguishing not only between non-Gaussian temperature fluctuations and Gaussian ones but also between $g_{NL}$ and $f_{NL}$ type non-Gaussianities.Comment: 18+1 page