Tensor non-gaussianities from non-minimal coupling to the inflaton
Not provided.
Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
Engineering topics
Wands, David
Publications and source records attributed to Wands, David.
Non-Gaussianity from axion-gauge fields interactions during inflation
Not provided.
Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
The stochastic spectator
We study the stochastic distribution of spectator fields predicted in different slow-roll inflation backgrounds. Spectator fields have a negligible energy density during inflation but may play an important dynamical role later, even giving rise to primordial density perturbations within our observational horizon today. During de-Sitter expansion there is an equilibrium solution for the spectator field which is often used to estimate the stochastic distribution during slow-roll inflation. However slow roll only requires that the Hubble rate varies slowly compared to the Hubble time, while the time taken for the stochastic distribution to evolve to the de-Sitter equilibrium solution can be much longer than a Hubble time. We study both chaotic (monomial) and plateau inflaton potentials, with quadratic, quartic and axionic spectator fields. We give an adiabaticity condition for the spectator field distribution to relax to the de-Sitter equilibrium, and find that the de-Sitter approximation is never a reliable estimate for the typical distribution at the end of inflation for a quadratic spectator during monomial inflation. The existence of an adiabatic regime at early times can erase the dependence on initial conditions of the final distribution of field values. In these cases, spectator fields acquire sub-Planckian expectation values. Otherwise spectator fields may acquire much larger field displacements than suggested by the de-Sitter equilibrium solution. We quantify the information about initial conditions that can be obtained from the final field distribution. Our results may have important consequences for the viability of spectator models for the origin of structure, such as the simplest curvaton models.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Quantum diffusion during inflation and primordial black holes
We calculate the full probability density function (PDF) of inflationary curvature perturbations, even in the presence of large quantum backreaction. Making use of the stochastic-δ N formalism, two complementary methods are developed, one based on solving an ordinary differential equation for the characteristic function of the PDF, and the other based on solving a heat equation for the PDF directly. In the classical limit where quantum diffusion is small, we develop an expansion scheme that not only recovers the standard Gaussian PDF at leading order, but also allows us to calculate the first non-Gaussian corrections to the usual result. In the opposite limit where quantum diffusion is large, we find that the PDF is given by an elliptic theta function, which is fully characterised by the ratio between the squared width and height (in Planck mass units) of the region where stochastic effects dominate. We then apply these results to the calculation of the mass fraction of primordial black holes from inflation, and show that no more than ∼ 1 e -fold can be spent in regions of the potential dominated by quantum diffusion. We explain how this requirement constrains inflationary potentials with two examples.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Relativistic initial conditions for N-body simulations
Initial conditions for (Newtonian) cosmological N-body simulations are usually set by re-scaling the present-day power spectrum obtained from linear (relativistic) Boltzmann codes to the desired initial redshift of the simulation. This back-scaling method can account for the effect of inhomogeneous residual thermal radiation at early times, which is absent in the Newtonian simulations. We analyse this procedure from a fully relativistic perspective, employing the recently-proposed Newtonian motion gauge framework. We find that N-body simulations for ΛCDM cosmology starting from back-scaled initial conditions can be self-consistently embedded in a relativistic space-time with first-order metric potentials calculated using a linear Boltzmann code. This space-time coincides with a simple ''N-body gauge'' for z < 50 for all observable modes. Care must be taken, however, when simulating non-standard cosmologies. As an example, we analyse the back-scaling method in a cosmology with decaying dark matter, and show that metric perturbations become large at early times in the back-scaling approach, indicating a breakdown of the perturbative description. We suggest a suitable ''forwards approach' for such cases.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Relativistic interpretation of Newtonian simulations for cosmic structure formation
The standard numerical tools for studying non-linear collapse of matter are Newtonian N -body simulations. Previous work has shown that these simulations are in accordance with General Relativity (GR) up to first order in perturbation theory, provided that the effects from radiation can be neglected. In this paper we show that the present day matter density receives more than 1% corrections from radiation on large scales if Newtonian simulations are initialised before z =50. We provide a relativistic framework in which unmodified Newtonian simulations are compatible with linear GR even in the presence of radiation. Our idea is to use GR perturbation theory to keep track of the evolution of relativistic species and the relativistic space-time consistent with the Newtonian trajectories computed in N -body simulations. If metric potentials are sufficiently small, they can be computed using a first-order Einstein–Boltzmann code such as CLASS. We make this idea rigorous by defining a class of GR gauges, the Newtonian motion gauges, which are defined such that matter particles follow Newtonian trajectories. We construct a simple example of a relativistic space-time within which unmodified Newtonian simulations can be interpreted.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Constraining curvatonic reheating
We derive the first systematic observational constraints on reheating in models of inflation where an additional light scalar field contributes to primordial density perturbations and affects the expansion history during reheating. This encompasses the original curvaton model but also covers a larger class of scenarios. We find that, compared to the single-field case, lower values of the energy density at the end of inflation and of the reheating temperature are preferred when an additional scalar field is introduced. For instance, if inflation is driven by a quartic potential, which is one of the most favoured models when a light scalar field is added, the upper bound T {sub reh} < 5 × 10{sup 4} GeV on the reheating temperature T {sub reh} is derived, and the implications of this value on post-inflationary physics are discussed. The information gained about reheating is also quantified and it is found that it remains modest in plateau inflation (though still larger than in the single-field version of the model) but can become substantial in quartic inflation. The role played by the vev of the additional scalar field at the end of inflation is highlighted, and opens interesting possibilities for exploring stochastic inflation effects that could determine its distribution.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Multiple fields in stochastic inflation
Stochastic effects in multi-field inflationary scenarios are investigated. A hierarchy of diffusion equations is derived, the solutions of which yield moments of the numbers of inflationary e-folds. Solving the resulting partial differential equations in multi-dimensional field space is more challenging than the single-field case. A few tractable examples are discussed, which show that the number of fields is, in general, a critical parameter. When more than two fields are present for instance, the probability to explore arbitrarily large-field regions of the potential, otherwise inaccessible to single-field dynamics, becomes non-zero. In some configurations, this gives rise to an infinite mean number of e-folds, regardless of the initial conditions. Another difference with respect to single-field scenarios is that multi-field stochastic effects can be large even at sub-Planckian energy. This opens interesting new possibilities for probing quantum effects in inflationary dynamics, since the moments of the numbers of e-folds can be used to calculate the distribution of primordial density perturbations in the stochastic-δN formalism.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Galaxy bispectrum, primordial non-Gaussianity and redshift space distortions
Measurements of the non-Gaussianity of the primordial density field have the power to considerably improve our understanding of the physics of inflation. Indeed, if we can increase the precision of current measurements by an order of magnitude, a null-detection would rule out many classes of scenarios for generating primordial fluctuations. Large-scale galaxy redshift surveys represent experiments that hold the promise to realise this goal. Thus, we model the galaxy bispectrum and forecast the accuracy with which it will probe the parameter f {sub NL}, which represents the degree of primordial local-type non Gaussianity. Specifically, we address the problem of modelling redshift space distortions (RSD) in the tree-level galaxy bispectrum including f {sub NL}. We find novel contributions associated with RSD, with the characteristic large scale amplification induced by local-type non-Gaussianity. These RSD effects must be properly accounted for in order to obtain un-biased measurements of f {sub NL} from the galaxy bispectrum. We propose an analytic template for the monopole which can be used to fit against data on large scales, extending models used in the recent measurements. Finally, we perform idealised forecasts on σ {sub f} {sub N{sub L}}—the accuracy of the determination of local non-linear parameter f {sub NL}—from measurements of the galaxy bispectrum. Our findings suggest that current surveys can in principle provide f {sub NL} constraints competitive with Planck , and future surveys could improve them further.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
The intrinsic matter bispectrum in ΛCDM
We present a fully relativistic calculation of the matter bispectrum at second order in cosmological perturbation theory assuming a Gaussian primordial curvature perturbation. For the first time we perform a full numerical integration of the bispectrum for both baryons and cold dark matter using the second-order Einstein-Boltzmann code, SONG. We review previous analytical results and provide an improved analytic approximation for the second-order kernel in Poisson gauge which incorporates Newtonian nonlinear evolution, relativistic initial conditions, the effect of radiation at early times and the cosmological constant at late times. Our improved kernel provides a percent level fit to the full numerical result at late times for most configurations, including both equilateral shapes and the squeezed limit. We show that baryon acoustic oscillations leave an imprint in the matter bispectrum, making a significant impact on squeezed shapes.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗