Local non-Gaussianity from inflation

David Wands (1, 2, 3)

1 Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation
2 University of Portsmouth
3 YITP - Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics [Kyoto]

The non-Gaussian distribution of primordial perturbations has the potential to reveal the physical processes at work in the very early Universe. Local models provide a well-defined class of non-Gaussian distributions that arise naturally from the non-linear evolution of density perturbations on super-Hubble scales starting from Gaussian field fluctuations. I describe the δN formalism used to calculate the primordial density perturbation on large scales and then review several models for the origin of local primordial non-Gaussianity, including the cuvaton, modulated reheating and ekpyrotic scenarios.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

David Wands. Local non-Gaussianity from inflation. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 2010, 27 (12), pp.124002. ⟨10.1088/0264-9381/27/12/124002⟩. ⟨hal-00601890⟩