Martin S. Sloth

Adiabatic CMB perturbations in pre-Big-Bang string cosmology

Abstract We consider the pre-Big-Bang scenario with a massive axion field which starts to dominate energy density when oscillating in an instanton-induced potential and subsequently reheats the universe as it decays into photons, thus creating adiabatic CMB perturbations. We find that the fluctuations in the axion field can give rise to a nearly flat spectrum of adiabatic perturbations with a spectral tilt Δn in the range −0.1≲ Δn ≲1.

Inflationary trispectrum from graviton exchange

We compute the connected four-point correlation function of the primordial curvature perturbation generated during inflation with standard kinetic terms, where the correlation is established via exchange of a graviton between two pairs of scalar fluctuations. Any such correlation yields a contribution to the scalar trispectrum of the order of the tensor to scalar ratio r. This contribution is numerically one order of magnitude larger than the one previously calculated on the basis of scalar perturbations interacting at a point and satisfies a simple relation in the limit where the momentum of the graviton which is exchanged becomes much smaller than the external momenta. We conclude that the total non-linearity parameter generated by single-field models of slow-roll inflation is at maximum |tNL| ~ r.

Searching for a holographic connection between dark energy and the low l CMB multipoles

We consider the angular power spectrum in a finite universe with different boundary conditions and perform a fit to the CMB, LSS and supernova data. A finite universe could be the consequence of a holographic constraint, giving rise to an effective IR cut-off at the future event horizon. In such a model there is a cosmic duality relating the dark energy equation of state and the power spectrum, which shows a suppression and oscillatory behaviour that is found to describe the low l features extremely well. However, much of the discussion here will also apply if we actually live inside an expanding bubble that describes our universe. The best fit to the CMB and LSS data turns out to be better than in the standard ΛCDM model, but when combined with the supernova data, the holographic model becomes disfavoured. We speculate on the possible implications.

The inflationary trispectrum

We calculate the trispectrum of the primordial curvature perturbation generated by an epoch of slow-roll in. ation in the early universe, and demonstrate that the non-Gaussian signature imprinted at horizon crossing is unobservably small, of order lambda NL less than or similar to r/50, where r < 1 is the tensor-to-scalar ratio. Therefore any primordial non-Gaussianity observed in future microwave background experiments is likely to have been synthesized by gravitational effects on superhorizon scales. We discuss the application of Maldacenas consistency condition to the trispectrum.

Possible connection between the location of the cutoff in the cosmic microwave background spectrum and the equation of state of dark energy

We investigate a possible connection between the suppression of the power at low multipoles in the CMB spectrum and the late time acceleration. We show that, assuming a cosmic IR/UV duality between the UV cutoff and a global infrared cutoff given by the size of the future event horizon, the equation of state of the dark energy can be related to the apparent cutoff in the CMB spectrum. The present limits on the equation of state of dark energy are shown to imply an IR cutoff in the CMB multipole interval of 9>l>8.5.

On the one loop corrections to inflation and the CMB anisotropies

Abstract We investigate the one loop effective potential of inflation in a standard model of chaotic inflation. The leading one loop corrections to the effective inflaton potential are evaluated in the quasi de Sitter background, and we estimate the one loop correction to the two-point function of the inflaton perturbations in the Hartree approximation. In this approximation, the one loop corrections depends on the total number of e-foldings of inflation and the maximal effect is estimated to be a correction to the power spectrum of a few percent. However, such a correction may be difficult to disentangle from the background in the simplest scenario.

On resumming inflationary perturbations beyond one-loop

It is well known that the correlation functions of a scalar field in a quasi-de Sitter space exhibit at the loop level cumulative infrared effects proportional to the total number of e-foldings of inflation. Using the in–in formalism, we explore the behavior of these infrared effects in the large N limit of an O(N)-invariant scalar field theory with quartic self-interactions. By resumming all higher-order loop diagrams non-perturbatively, we show that the connected four-point correlation function, which is a signal of non-Gaussianity, is non-perturbatively enhanced with respect to its tree-level value.

Trans-Planckian Effects in Inflationary Cosmology and the Modified Uncertainty Principle

Abstract There are good indications that fundamental physics gives rise to a modified space–momentum uncertainty relation that implies the existence of a minimum length scale. We implement this idea in the scalar field theory that describes density perturbations in flat Robertson–Walker space–time. This leads to a non-linear time-dependent dispersion relation that encodes the effects of Planck scale physics in the inflationary epoch. Unruh type dispersion relations naturally emerge in this approach, while unbounded ones are excluded by the minimum length principle. We also find red-shift induced modifications of the field theory, due to the reduction of degrees of freedom at high energies, that tend to dampen the fluctuations at trans-Planckian momenta. In the specific example considered, this feature helps determine the initial state of the fluctuations, leading to a flat power spectrum.

On the one-loop corrections to inflation II: The consistency relation

Abstract In this paper we extend our previous treatment of the one-loop corrections to inflation. Previously we calculated the one-loop corrections to the background and the two-point correlation function of inflaton fluctuations in a specific model of chaotic inflation. We showed that the loop corrections depend on the total number of e-foldings and estimated that the effect could be as large as a few percent in a λ ϕ 4 model of chaotic inflation. In the present paper we generalize the calculations to general inflationary potentials. We find that effect can be as large as 70% in the simplest model of chaotic inflation with a quadratic m 2 ϕ 2 inflationary potential. We discuss the physical interpretation of the effect in terms of the tensor-to-scalar consistency relation. Finally, we discuss the relation to the work of Weinberg on quantum contributions to cosmological correlators.

Non-Gaussianity from Axion Monodromy Inflation

We study the primordial non-Gaussinity predicted from simple models of inflation with a linear potential and superimposed oscillations. This generic form of the potential is predicted by the axion monodromy inflation model, that has recently been proposed as a possible realization of chaotic inflation in string theory, where the monodromy from wrapped branes extends the range of the closed string axions to beyond the Planck scale. The superimposed oscillations in the potential can lead to new signatures in the CMB spectrum and bispectrum. In particular the bispectrum will have a new distinct shape. We calculate the power spectrum and bispectrum of curvature perturbations in the model, as well as make analytic estimates in various limiting cases. From the numerical analysis we find that for a wide range of allowed parameters the model produces a feature in the bispectrum with fnl ~ 50 or larger while the power spectrum is almost featureless. This model is therefore an example of a string-inspired inflationary model which is testable mainly through its non-Gaussian features. Finally we provide a simple analytic fitting formula for the bispectrum which is accurate to approximately 5% in all cases, and easily implementable in codes designed to provide non-Gaussian templates for CMB analyses.