Cosmological perturbations from multi-field inflation

We briefly review the standard derivation of the spectra of cosmological perturbations in the simplest models of inflation. We then consider models with several scalar fields, described by Lagrangians with an arbitrary dependence on the kinetic terms. We illustrate our general formalism with the case of multi-field DBI inflation.Comment: Invited plenary talk at ICGC-07 (International Conference on Gravitation and Cosmology), 17-21 December 2007, IUCAA, Pune, India; 10 pages, no figur

Stress tensor for massive fields on flat spaces of spatial topology R^2\times{S^1}

We calculate the expectation values of the energy-momentum tensor T_{{\mu}{\nu}} for massive scalar and spinor fields, in the Minkowski-like vacuum states on the two flat spaces which are quotients of Minkowski space under the discrete isometries (t,x,y,z)\mapsto(t,x,y,z+2a) and (t,x,y,z)\mapsto(t,-x,-y,z+a). The results on the first space confirm the literature. The results on the second space are new. We note some qualitative differences between the massless and massive fields in the limits of large a and large x^2+y^2.Comment: 9 pages, v2 minor presentational changes made, v3 replaced with published version (minor changes

Primordial non-Gaussianities

This contribution gives an overview on primordial non-Gaussianities from a theoretical perspective. After presenting a general formalism to describe nonlinear cosmological perturbations, several classes of models, illustrated with examples, are discussed: multi-field inflation with non-standard Lagrangians, modulaton fields, curvaton fields. In the latter case, a special emphasis is put on the isocurvature perturbations, which could leave a specific signature in non-Gaussianities.Comment: Invited talk at YKIS (Yukawa International Seminar) 2010: "Cosmology -The Next Generation-", 28 June - 2 July 2010, Kyoto, Japa

Non-Gaussianities from isocurvature modes

This contribution discusses isocurvature modes, in particular the non-Gaussianities of local type generated by these modes. Since the isocurvature transfer functions differ from the adiabatic one, the coexistence of a primordial isocurvature mode with the usual adiabatic mode leads to a rich structure of the angular bispectrum, which can be decomposed into six elementary bispectra. Future analysis of the CMB data will enable to measure their relative weights, or at least constrain them. Non-Gaussianity thus provides a new window on isocurvature modes. This is particularly relevant for some scenarios, such as those presented here, which generate isocurvature modes whose contribution in the power spectrum is suppressed, as required by present data, but whose contribution in the non-Gaussianities could be dominant and measurable.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the Proceedings of COSGRAV-2012 (International Conference on Modern Perspectives of Cosmology and Gravitation), Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India, February 7-11, 201

Demazure roots and spherical varieties: the example of horizontal SL(2)-actions

Let $G$ be a connected reductive group, and let $X$ be an affine $G$-spherical variety. We show that the classification of $\mathbb{G}_{a}$-actions on $X$ normalized by $G$ can be reduced to the description of quasi-affine homogeneous spaces under the action of a semi-direct product $\mathbb{G}_{a}\rtimes G$ with the following property. The induced $G$-action is spherical and the complement of the open orbit is either empty or a $G$-orbit of codimension one. These homogeneous spaces are parametrized by a subset ${\rm Rt}(X)$ of the character lattice $\mathbb{X}(G)$ of $G$, which we call the set of Demazure roots of $X$. We give a complete description of the set ${\rm Rt}(X)$ when $G$ is a semi-direct product of ${\rm SL}_{2}$ and an algebraic torus; we show particularly that ${\rm Rt}(X)$ can be obtained explicitly as the intersection of a finite union of polyhedra in $\mathbb{Q}\otimes_{\mathbb{Z}}\mathbb{X}(G)$ and a sublattice of $\mathbb{X}(G)$. We conjecture that ${\rm Rt}(X)$ can be described in a similar combinatorial way for an arbitrary affine spherical variety $X$.Comment: Added Section 4; modified main result, Theorem 5.18 now; other change

High-precision evaluation of the Vibrational spectra of long-range molecules

Vibrational spectra of long-range molecules are determined accurately and to arbitrary accuracy with the Canonical Function Method. The energy levels of the $0^-_g$ and $1_u$ electronic states of the $^{23}{\rm Na}_2$ molecule are determined from the Ground state up to the continuum limit. The method is validated by comparison with previous results obtained by Stwalley et al. using the same potential and Trost et al. whose work is based on the Lennard-Jones potential adapted to long-range molecules.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures and 6 tables. To be published in the G. Herzberg memorial issue, Can. J. Physics Vol. 79 (2001