Related papers: The Cosmological Bootstrap: Inflationary Correlato…
Speed matters. How the masses and spins of new particles active during inflation can be read off from the statistical properties of primordial density fluctuations is well understood. However, not when the propagation speeds of the new…
We calculate the four point correlation function for scalar perturbations in the canonical model of slow-roll inflation. We work in the leading slow-roll approximation where the calculation can be done in de Sitter space. Our calculation…
We compute correlation functions of the primordial density perturbations when they couple to a gapless, strongly coupled sector of spectator fields -- ``unparticles" -- during inflation. We first derive a four-point function of conformally…
A key insight of the bootstrap approach to cosmological correlations is the fact that all correlators of slow-roll inflation can be reduced to a unique building block---the four-point function of conformally coupled scalars, arising from…
The space of inflationary models is vast, containing wide varieties of mechanisms, symmetries, and spectra of particles. Consequently, the space of observational signatures is similarly complex. Hence, it is natural to look for boundaries…
We extend the cosmological bootstrap to correlators involving massless particles with spin. In de Sitter space, these correlators are constrained both by symmetries and by locality. In particular, the de Sitter isometries become conformal…
Two-point correlators and self-correlators of primordial perturbations in quasi-de Sitter spacetime backgrounds are considered. For large separations two-point correlators exhibit nearly scale invariance, while for short distances…
In inflationary models where the source of scalar perturbations is not the inflaton, but one or more scalars with negligible coupling with the inflaton, the resulting perturbations are not only scale invariant, but fully conformally…
In the standard approach to deriving inflationary predictions, we evolve a vacuum state in time according to the rules of a given model. Since the only observables are the future values of correlators and not their time evolution, this…
Cosmological correlation functions contain valuable information about the primordial Universe, with possible signatures of new massive particles at very high energies. Recent developments, including the cosmological bootstrap, bring new…
Usual inflation is realized with a slow rolling scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. In contrast, we consider dynamics of a scalar with a flat effective potential, conformally coupled to gravity. Surprisingly, it contains an attractor…
We investigate the symmetry constraints on the bispectrum, i.e. the three-point correlation function of primordial density fluctuations, in slow-roll inflation. It follows from the defining property of slow-roll inflation that primordial…
The observation of primordial correlators by cosmological surveys is a very promising avenue to probe high energies and the perturbative regime of quantum gravity. Hence, it is imperative that we understand how these observables are shaped…
We investigate the symmetry structure of inflation in 2+1 dimensions. In particular, we show that the asymptotic symmetries of three-dimensional de Sitter space are in one-to-one correspondence with cosmological adiabatic modes for the…
We study the multifield inflationary models where the cosmological perturbation is sourced by light scalar fields other than the inflaton. The corresponding perturbations are both scale invariant and special conformally invariant. We…
This thesis is centered on three main subjects within the theory of inflation and cosmological perturbations: loop corrections to the power spectrum of curvature fluctuations generated during inflation; evolution of cosmological…
Using symmetry considerations, we derive Ward identities which relate the three point function of scalar perturbations produced during inflation to the scalar four point function, in a particular limit. The derivation assumes approximate…
Signatures of heavy particles during inflation are exponentially suppressed by the Boltzmann factor when the masses are far above the Hubble scale. In more realistic scenarios, however, scale-dependent features may change this conventional…
Massive fields can imprint unique oscillatory features on primordial correlation functions or inflationary correlators, which is dubbed the cosmological collider signal. In this work, we analytically investigate the effects of a…
We develop a Mellin space approach to boundary correlation functions in anti-de Sitter (AdS) and de Sitter (dS) spaces. Using the Mellin-Barnes representation of correlators in Fourier space, we show that the analytic continuation between…