Andrew J. Tolley

Resummation of Massive Gravity

We construct four-dimensional covariant nonlinear theories of massive gravity which are ghost-free in the decoupling limit to all orders. These theories resum explicitly all the nonlinear terms of an effective field theory of massive gravity. We show that away from the decoupling limit the Hamiltonian constraint is maintained at least up to and including quartic order in nonlinearities, hence excluding the possibility of the Boulware-Deser ghost up to this order. We also show that the same remains true to all orders in a similar toy model.

DBI and the Galileon reunited

We derive the relativistic generalization of the Galileon, by studying the brane position modulus of a relativistic probe brane embedded in a five-dimensional bulk. In the appropriate Galilean contraction limit, we recover the complete Galileon generalization of the DGP decoupling theory and its conformal extension. All higher order interactions for the Galileon and its relativistic generalization naturally follow from the brane tension, induced curvature, and the Gibbons-Hawking-York boundary terms associated with all bulk Lovelock invariants. Our approach makes the coupling to gravity straightforward, in particular allowing a simple rederivation of the nonminimal couplings required by the Covariant Galileon. The connection with the Lovelock invariants makes the well-defined Cauchy problem manifest, and gives a natural unification of four dimensional effective field theories of the DBI type and the Galileon type.

Enhanced non-Gaussianity from excited initial states

We use the techniques of effective field theory in an expanding universe to examine the effect of choosing an excited inflationary initial state built over the Bunch–Davies state on the CMB bi-spectrum. We find that, even for Hadamard states, there are unexpected enhancements in the bi-spectrum for certain configurations in momentum space due to interactions of modes in the early stages of inflation. These enhancements can be parametrically larger than the standard ones and are potentially observable in future data. These initial state effects have a characteristic signature in l-space which distinguishes them from the usual contributions, with the enhancement being most pronounced for configurations corresponding to flattened triangles for which two momenta are collinear.

Primordial non-Gaussianity, statistics of collapsed objects, and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

Any hint of non-Gaussianity in the cosmological initial conditions will provide us with a unique window into the physics of the early Universe. We show that the impact of a small local primordial non-Gaussianity (generated on superhorizon scales) on the statistics of collapsed objects (such as galaxies or clusters) can be approximated by using slightly modified, but Gaussian, initial conditions, which we describe through simple analytic expressions. Given that numerical simulations with Gaussian initial conditions are relatively well studied, this equivalence provides us with a simple tool to predict signatures of primordial non-Gaussianity in the statistics of collapsed objects. In particular, we describe the predictions for non-Gaussian mass function, and also confirm the recent discovery of a nonlocal bias on large scales [N. Dalal, O. Dore, D. Huterer, and A. Shirokov, Phys. Rev. D 77, 123514 (2008).][S. Matarrese and L. Verde, Astrophys. J. 677, L77 (2008).], as a signature of primordial non-Gaussianity. We then study the potential of galaxy surveys to constrain non-Gaussianity using their autocorrelation and cross correlation with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) (due to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect), as a function of survey characteristics, and predict that they will eventually yield an accuracy of

Equilateral non-Gaussianity from multifield dynamics

\ensuremath{\Delta}{f}_{NL}\ensuremath{\sim}0.1

Cosmological perturbations in a big crunch / big bang space-time

and 3, respectively, which will be better than or competitive with (but independent of) the best predicted constraints from the CMB. Interestingly, the cross correlation of the CMB and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey galaxy survey already shows a hint of a large local primordial non-Gaussianity:

Cascading Gravity and Degravitation

{f}_{NL}=236\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}127

Cascading gravity: Extending the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model to higher dimension

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Scale invariance in expanding and contracting universes from two-field models

The distinctive features of single field inflationary models with nonminimal kinetic terms, like Dirac-Born-Infeld and k inflation, can be captured by more familiar multiple-field inflationary systems of the type that typically arise in low-energy supergravity models. At least one heavy field, which we call the gelaton, has an effective potential which depends on the kinetic energy of the inflaton. Integrating out the gelaton gives rise to an effectively single field system for which the speed of sound for the adiabatic fluctuations is reduced, generating potentially observable equilateral non-Gaussianity, while causing negligible isocurvature fluctuations. This mechanism is only active if there is a relatively tight coupling between the gelaton and the inflaton. Requiring that the inflaton-gelaton system remains weakly coupled puts an upper limit on the gelaton mass. This approach gives a potentially UV-completable framework for describing large classes of k-inflationary behavior.

Flat 3-brane with tension in cascading gravity.

A prescription is developed for matching general relativistic perturbations across singularities of the type encountered in the ekpyrotic and cyclic scenarios, i.e., a collision between orbifold planes. We show that there exists a gauge in which the evolution of perturbations is locally identical to that in a model space-time (compactified Milne mod