Related papers: Non-Gaussian Shape Recognition
Whilst current observational evidence favors a close-to-Gaussian spectrum of primordial perturbations, there exist many models of the early Universe that predict this distribution to have exponentially enhanced or suppressed tails. In this…
The methods of effective field theory are used to study generic theories of inflation with a single inflaton field and to perform a general analysis of the associated non-Gaussianities. We investigate the amplitudes and shapes of the…
We study the covariance in the angular power spectrum estimates of CMB fluctuations when the primordial fluctuations are non-Gaussian. The non-Gaussian covariance comes from a nonzero connected four-point correlation function -- or the…
We propose a new mechanism to generate density perturbations in inflationary models. Spatial fluctuations in the decay rate of the inflaton field to ordinary matter lead to fluctuations in the reheating temperature. We argue that in most…
Multi-field inflation models and non-Bunch-Davies vacuum initial conditions both predict sizeable non-Gaussian primordial perturbations and anisotropic $\mu$-type spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) blackbody.…
While the probability density function (PDF) of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) convergence field approximately follows a Gaussian distribution, primordial non-Gaussianities and small contributions from structures at low redshifts…
We use the delta N -formalism to investigate the non-Gaussianity of the primordial curvature perturbation in the curvaton scenario for the origin of structure. We numerically calculate the full probability distribution function allowing for…
In this paper, inflationary cosmology is reviewed, paying particular attention to its observational signatures associated with large-scale density perturbations generated from quantum fluctuations. In the most general scalar-tensor theories…
In this paper we propose a new statistic capable of detecting non-Gaussianity in the CMB. The statistic is defined in Fourier space, and therefore naturally separates angular scales. It consists of taking another Fourier transform, in…
The forthcoming Planck experiment will provide high sensitivity polarization measurements that will allow us to further tighten the f_NL bounds from the temperature data. Monte Carlo simulations of non-Gaussian CMB maps have been used as a…
Recent measurements of temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) indicate that the Universe is flat and that large-scale structure grew via gravitational infall from primordial adiabatic perturbations. Both of these…
Multiple inflation is a model based on N=1 supergravity wherein there are sudden changes in the mass of the inflaton because it couples to 'flat direction' scalar fields which undergo symmetry breaking phase transitions as the universe…
Primordial non-Gaussianity of local type is known to produce a scale-dependent contribution to the galaxy bias. Several classes of multi-field inflationary models predict non-Gaussian bias which is stochastic, in the sense that dark matter…
We study a model of inflation where the scalar perturbations are almost gaussian while there is sizable (equilateral) nongaussianity in the tensor sector. In this model, a rolling pseudoscalar gravitationally coupled to the inflaton…
We propose that several of the anomalies that have been observed at large angular scales in the CMB have a common origin in a cosmic bounce that took place before the inflationary era. The bounce introduces a new physical scale in the…
A detection or non detection of primordial non--Gaussianity (NG) by using the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is a possible way to break the degeneracy of early universe models. Since a single statistical estimator hardly can be…
This work is focused on the study of early time cosmology and in particular on the study of inflation. After an introduction on the standard Big Bang theory, we discuss the physics of CMB and we explain how its observations can be used to…
We present theoretical and observational studies of non-Gaussian fluctuations in CMB, by using the angular bispectrum and trispectrum. We predict the primary angular bispectrum from inflation, and forecast how well we can measure the…
The statistical properties of the temperature anisotropies and polarization of the of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation offer a powerful probe of the physics of the early universe. In recent works a statistical procedure based…
We consider small-field models which invoke the usual framework for the effective field theory, and large-field models which go beyond that. Present and future possibilities for discriminating between the models are assessed, on the…