How Gaussian can our Universe be?
pith:SLSY2RHI Add to your LaTeX paper
What is a Pith Number?\usepackage{pith}
\pithnumber{SLSY2RHI}
Prints a linked pith:SLSY2RHI badge after your title and writes the identifier into PDF metadata. Compiles on arXiv with no extra files. Learn more
read the original abstract
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 models, where this lower bound is saturated, non-Gaussianity is controlled by two observables: the tensor-to-scalar ratio, which is uncertain by more than fifty orders of magnitude; and the scalar spectral index, or tilt, which is relatively well measured. It is well known that to leading and next-to-leading order in derivatives, the contributions proportional to the tilt disappear from any local observable, and suspicion has been raised that this might happen to all orders, allowing for an arbitrarily low amount of primordial non-Gaussianity. Employing Conformal Fermi Coordinates, we show explicitly that this is not the case. Instead, a contribution of order the tilt appears in local observables. In summary, the floor of physical primordial non-Gaussianity in our Universe has a squeezed-limit scaling of $k_\ell^2/k_s^2$, similar to equilateral and orthogonal shapes, and a dimensionless amplitude of order $0.1\times(n_\mathrm{s}-1)$.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 1 Pith paper
-
Cosmological zoom-in perturbation theory as a consistent beyond point-particle approximation framework
A covariant zoom-in perturbation theory framework resolves geodesic breakdown via hierarchical matter horizons, producing an effective energy-momentum tensor whose backreaction explains flat galaxy rotation curves wit...
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.