Related papers: Planck-Suppressed Operators
Primordial non-Gaussianity can source $\mu$-distortion anisotropies that are correlated with the large-scale temperature and polarization signals of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). A measurement of $\mu T$ and $\mu E$ correlations…
In any realistic particle physics model of inflation, the inflaton can be expected to couple to other fields. We consider a model with a dilaton-like coupling between a U(1) gauge field and a scalar inflaton. We show that this coupling can…
We describe a general scenario where primordial non-Gaussian curvature perturbations are generated in models with extra scalar fields. The extra scalars communicate to the inflaton sector mainly through the tachyonic (waterfall) field…
In this paper we derive a generic expression, which is valid for scales larger than Hubble radius and contains only the local terms, for the second order curvature perturbations for more than one field, provided the expansion is sourced by…
We provide analytic solutions for the power spectrum and bispectrum of curvature fluctuations produced by a step feature in the inflaton potential, valid in the limit that the step is short and sharp. In this limit, the bispectrum is…
Primordial non-Gaussianity generated by additional fields during inflation offers a compelling observational target. Heavy fields imprint characteristic oscillatory signals in non-Gaussian correlation functions of the inflaton, a process…
Non-Gaussianity of the primordial density perturbations provides an important measure to constrain models of inflation. At cubic order the non-Gaussianity is captured by two parameters $\tau_{\rm NL}$ and $g_{\rm NL}$ that determine the…
Primordial non-Gaussianity signatures of extremely heavy particles are re-examined within a simple alternative to the standard inflationary paradigm, in which the primordial fluctuations and the inflationary spacetime expansion are sourced…
Gauge-flation is a recently proposed model in which inflation is driven solely by a non-Abelian gauge field thanks to a specific higher order derivative operator. The nature of the operator is such that it does not introduce ghosts. We…
We calculate one-loop correction to the two-point functions of curvature perturbation in single-field inflation generated by cubic self-interaction. Incorporating the observed red-tilted spectrum of curvature perturbation, the relevant…
We study the structure of multi-field inflation models where the primordial curvature perturbation is able to vigorously interact with an ultra-light isocurvature field -- a massless fluctuation orthogonal to the background inflationary…
Primordial gravitational waves could be non-Gaussian, just like primordial scalar perturbations. Although the tensor two-point function has thus-far remained elusive, the three-point function could, in principle, be large enough to be…
We compute in detail how deviations from Einstein gravity at the inflation energy scale could appear as non-Gaussian features in the sky. To illustrate this we use multi-field $\alpha-$attractor models in the framework of supergravity to…
Gravity is a non-linear theory, and hence, barring cancellations, the initial super-horizon perturbations produced by inflation must contain some minimum amount of mode coupling, or primordial non-Gaussianity. In single-field slow-roll…
The Higgs sector of the Standard Model offers a unique opportunity to probe the hidden sector. The Higgs squared operator is the only dimension two operator which is Lorentz and gauge invariant. It can therefore couple both to scalar…
The spatial curvature of the universe is not yet known. Even though at present the Universe is very close to being essentially flat and most signatures of curvature appear to have been diluted by inflation, if the number of e-foldings…
A highly non-gaussian cosmological perturbation with a flat spectrum has unusual stochastic properties. We show that they depend on the size of the box within which the perturbation is defined, but that for a typical observer the parameters…
We compute the three-point cross-correlation function of the primordial curvature perturbation generated during inflation with two powers of a vector field in a model where conformal invariance is broken by a direct coupling of the vector…
We study the evolution of scalar curvature perturbations in a brane-world inflation model in a 5D Anti-de Sitter spacetime. The inflaton perturbations are confined to a 4D brane but they are coupled to the 5D bulk metric perturbations. We…
Single field inflationary models predict nearly Gaussian initial conditions and hence a detection of non-Gaussianity would be a signature of the more complex inflationary scenarios. In this paper we study the effect on the cosmic microwave…