We discuss the signatures of non-Gaussianity in the curvaton model where the potential includes also a non-quadratic term. In such a case the non-linearity parameter f_NL can become very small, and we show that non-Gaussianity is then encoded in the non-reducible non-linearity parameter g_NL of the trispectrum, which can be very large. Thus the place to look for the non-Gaussianity in the curvaton model may be the trispectrum rather than the bispectrum. We also show that g_NL measures directly the deviation of the curvaton potential from the purely quadratic form. While g_NL depends on the strength of the non-quadratic terms relative to the quadratic one, we find that for reasonable cases roughly g_NL\sim O(-10^4)-O(-10^5), which are values that may well be accessible by future observations.
We use the delta N -formalism to investigate the non-Gaussianity of the primordial curvature perturbation in the curvaton scenario for the origin of structure. We numerically calculate the full probability distribution function allowing for the non-instantaneous decay of the curvaton and compare this with analytic results derived in the sudden-decay approximation. We also present results for the leading-order contribution to the primordial bispectrum and trispectrum. In the sudden-decay approximation we derive a fully non-linear expression relating the primordial perturbation to the initial cu…
We study non-Gaussianity, the spectral index of primordial scalar fluctuations and tensor modes in models where fluctuations from the inflaton and the curvaton can both contribute to the present cosmic density fluctuations. Even though simple single-field inflation models generate only tiny non-Gaussianity, if we consider such a mixed scenario, large non-Gaussianity can be produced. Furthermore, we study the inflationary parameters such as the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio in this kind of models and discuss in what cases models predict the spectral index and tensor modes allowe…
In the curvaton model of inflation, where a second scalar field, the "curvaton", is responsible for the observed inhomogeneity, a non-zero neutrino degeneracy may lead to a characteristic pattern of isocurvature perturbations in the neutrino, cold dark matter and baryon components. We find the current data can only place upper limits on the level of isocurvature perturbations. These can be translated into upper limits on the neutrino degeneracy parameter. In the case that lepton number is created before curvaton decay, we find that the limit on the neutrino degeneracy parameter is comparable w…
We study a model where two scalar fields, that are subdominant during inflation, decay into radiation some time after inflation has ended but before primordial nucleosynthesis. Perturbations of these two curvaton fields can be responsible for the primordial curvature perturbation. We write down the full non-linear equations that relate the primordial perturbation to the curvaton perturbations on large scales, calculate the power spectrum of the primordial perturbation, and finally go to second order to find the non-linearity parameter, fNL. We find large positive values of fNL if the energy de…
In curvaton-type models, observable non-gaussianity of the curvature perturbation would come from a contribution of the form $(δσ)^2$, where $δσ$ is gaussian. I analyse this situation allowing $δσ$ to be scale-dependent. The actual curvaton model is considered in more detail than before, including its cosmic uncertainty and anthropic status. The status of curvaton-type models after WMAP year three data is considered.
The generation of non-gaussianity is studied in a three fluid curvaton model. By utilizing second order perturbation theory we derive general formulae for the large scale temperature fluctuation and non-gaussianity parameter, $f_{NL}$, that includes the possibility of a non-adiabatic final state. In the adiabatic limit we recover previously known results. The results are applied to a three fluid curvaton model where the curvaton decays into radiation and matter. We find that the amount of non-gaussianity decreases as the final state of the system becomes more adiabatic and that the generated n…
Recently, the primordial non-Gaussianity in the curvaton model has been predicted assuming sudden decay of the curvaton. We extend the calculation to non-instantaneous decay by employing delta N -formalism. The difference between the sudden-decay approximation and our numerical result is larger than 1% only if the non-linearity parameter is small, -1.16 < f_NL < 60. Thus it is safe to use the sudden-decay approximation when deriving constraints for the curvaton model from WMAP3 (f_NL < 114), but with the Planck forecast |f_NL| <5 one should employ the fully numerical result. Often, the curvato…
We discuss non-Gaussianity and baryonic isocurvature fluctuations in the curvaton scenario, assuming that the baryon asymmetry of the universe originates only from the decay products of the inflaton. When large non-Gaussianity is realized in such a scenario, non-vanishing baryonic isocurvature fluctuations can also be generated unless the baryogenesis occurs after the decay of the curvaton. We calculate the non-linearity parameter f_NL and the baryonic isocurvature fluctuations, taking account of the primordial fluctuations of both the inflaton and the curvaton. We show that, although current …
We study the curvaton scenario using gauge-invariant second order perturbation theory and solving the governing equations numerically. Focusing on large scales we calculate the non-linearity parameter f_nl in the two-fluid curvaton model and compare our results with previous analytical studies employing the sudden decay approximation. We find good agreement of the two approaches for large curvaton energy densities at curvaton decay, Omega_dec, but significant differences of up to 10 percent for small Omega_dec.
We consider curvaton models with potentials that depart slightly from the quadratic form. We show that although such a small departure does not modify significantly the Gaussian part of the curvature perturbation, it can have a pronounced effect on the level of non-Gaussianity. We find that unlike in the quadratic case, the limit of small non-Gaussianity, $|f_{NL}|\ll1$, is quite possible even with small curvaton energy density $r\ll1$ . Furthermore, non-Gaussianity does not imply any strict bounds on $r$ but the bounds depend on the assumptions about the higher order terms in the curvaton pot…
We study a model where two scalar fields, that are subdominant during inflation, decay into radiation some time after inflation has ended but before primordial nucleosynthesis. Perturbations of these two curvaton fields can be responsible for the primordial curvature perturbation. We write down the full non-linear equations that relate the primordial perturbation to the curvaton perturbations on large scales, and solve them in a sudden-decay approximation. We calculate the power spectrum of the primordial perturbation, and finally go to second order to find the non-linearity parameter, fNL. No…
Recent analyses of the statistical distribution of the temperature anisotropies in the CMB do not rule out the possibility that there is a large non-gaussian contribution to the primordial power spectrum. This fact motivates the re-analysis of the curvaton scenario, paying special attention to the compatibility of large non-gaussianity of the local type with the current detection limits on the isocurvature amplitude in the CMB. We find that if the curvaton mechanism generates a primordial power spectrum with an important non-gaussian component, any residual isocurvature imprint originated by t…
We argue that the typical energy density of a light scalar field should not be less than $H^4$ in the inflationary Universe. This requirement implies that the non-Gaussianity parameter $f_{NL}$ is typically bounded by the tensor-scalar ratio $r$ from above, namely $f_{NL}\lesssim 518\cdot r^{1\over 4}$. If $f_{NL}=10^2$, inflation occurred around the GUT scale.
In this paper, we study a curvaton model described by a Dirac-Born-Infeld-like action. We calculate the spectrum of curvature perturbation induced by DBI-curvaton and estimate its non-Gaussianity. We find that in the limit of low sound speed the amplitude of curvature perturbation is enhanced more than that in DBI inflation. This result also means that the inflationary scale with DBI-curvaton may be lower than that in usual curvaton model. In addition, we also find that the local non-Gaussianity level in DBI-curvaton is generally about 10 times larger than that in usual curvaton model, which i…
We investigate the isocurvaton model, in which the isocurvature perturbation plays a role in suppressing the curvature perturbation, and large non-Gaussianity and gravitational waves can be produced with no isocurvature perturbation for dark matter. We show that in the slow roll non-interacting multi-field theory, the isocurvaton mechanism can not be realized. This result can also be generalized to most of the studied models with generalized kinetic terms. We also study the implications for the curvaton model. We show that there is a combined constraint for curvaton on non-Gaussianity, gravita…
We suppose that a vector field perturbation causes part of the primordial curvature perturbation. The non-Gaussianity parameter fNL is then, in general, statistically anisotropic. We calculate its form and magnitude in the curvaton scenario and in the end-of-inflation scenario. We show that this anisotropy could easily be observable.
A red tilted primordial power spectrum is preferred by WMAP five-year data and a large positive local-type non-Gaussianity $f_{NL}$ might be observed as well. In this short note we find that a red tilted and large non-Gaussian primordial power spectrum cannot be naturally obtained in curvaton model, because $f_{NL}$ is related to the initial condition of inflation.
In this paper we calculate additional contributions to that part of the non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbation, which come from the three-point correlator of the field perturbations. We estimate this contribution in the following models for its origin: single-component inflation, multi-component chaotic inflation, a two-component "hybrid" inflationary model, and the curvaton scenario. In all of these models, the additional contributions to the primordial non-gaussianity considered here, are too small to be ever detected.
We investigate consistency relations for non-Gaussianity. We provide a model-independent dynamical proof for the consistency relation of 3-point correlation functions from the Hamiltonian and field redefinition. This relation can be applied to single field inflation, multi-field inflation and the curvaton scenario. This relation can also be generalized to $n$-point correlation functions up to arbitrary order in perturbation theory and with arbitrary number of loops.
We study non-linear primordial adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations and their non-Gaussianity. After giving a general formulation in the context of an extended delta N-formalism, we analyse in detail two illustrative examples. The first is a mixed curvaton-inflaton scenario in which fluctuations of both the inflaton and a curvaton (a light isocurvature field during inflation) contribute to the primordial density perturbation. The second example is that of double inflation involving two decoupled massive scalar fields during inflation. In the mixed curvaton-inflaton scenario we find that th…
We present a second-order gauge-invariant formalism to study the evolution of curvature perturbations in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe filled by multiple interacting fluids. We apply such a general formalism to describe the evolution of the second-order curvature perturbations in the standard one-single field inflation, in the curvaton and in the inhomogeneous reheating scenarios for the generation of the cosmological perturbations. Moreover, we provide the exact expression for the second-order temperature anisotropies on large scales, including second-order gravitational effects and e…
We compute the fully non-linear Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies on scales larger than the horizon at last-scattering in terms of only the curvature perturbation, providing a generalization of the linear Sachs-Wolfe effect at any order in perturbation theory. We show how to compute the n-point connected correlation functions of the large-scale CMB anisotropies for generic primordial seeds provided by standard slow-roll inflation as well as the curvaton and other scenarios for the generation of cosmological perturbations. As an application of our formalism, we compute the three- a…
We discuss how primordial (e.g. inflationary) non-Gaussianity in the cosmological perturbations is left imprinted in the Large-Scale Structure of the universe. Our findings show that the information on the primordial non-Gaussianity set on super-Hubble scales flows into Post-Newtonian terms, leaving an observable imprint in the Large-Scale Structure. Future high-precision measurements of the statistics of the dark matter density and peculiar velocity fields will allow to pin down the primordial non-Gaussianity, thus representing a tool complementary to studies of the Cosmic Microwave Backgroun…
We investigate non-Gaussianity in the modulated reheating scenario where fluctuations of the decay rate of the inflaton generate adiabatic perturbations, paying particular attention to the non-linearity parameters $f_{\rm NL}, τ_{\rm NL}$ and $g_{\rm NL}$ as well as the scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio which characterize the nature of the primordial power spectrum. We also take into account the pre-existing adiabatic perturbations produced from the inflaton fluctuations. It has been known that the non-linearity between the curvature perturbations and the fluctuations of the dec…
We calculate the cosmic microwave background (CMB) angular trispectrum, spherical harmonic transform of the four-point correlation function, from primordial non-Gaussianity in primordial curvature perturbations characterized by a constant non-linear coupling parameter, $f_{\rm NL}$. We fully take into account the effect of the radiation transfer function, and thus provide the most accurate estimate of the signal-to-noise ratio of the angular trispectrum of CMB temperature anisotropy. We find that the predicted signal-to-noise ratio of the trispectrum summed up to a given $l$ is approximately a…
Employing the perturbative treatment of gravitational clustering, we discuss possible effects of primordial non-Gaussianity on the matter power spectrum. As gravitational clustering develops, the coupling between different Fourier modes of density perturbations becomes important and the primordial non-Gaussianity which intrinsically possesses a non-trivial mode-correlation can affect the late-time evolution of the power spectrum. We quantitatively estimate the non-Gaussian effect on power spectrum from the perturbation theory. The potential impact on the cosmological parameter estimation using…
Non-gaussianity represents the statistical signature of physical processes such as turbulence. It can also be used as a powerful tool to discriminate between competing cosmological scenarios. A canonical analysis of non-gaussianity is based on the study of the distribution of the signal in the real (or direct) space (e.g. brightness, temperature). This work presents an image processing method in which we propose statistical tests to indicate and quantify the non-gaussian nature of a signal. Our method is based on a wavelet analysis of a signal. Because the temperature or brightness distributio…
Several conserved and/or gauge invariant quantities described as the second-order curvature perturbation have been given in the literature. We revisit various scenarios for the generation of second-order non-gaussianity in the primordial curvature perturbation ζ, employing for the first time a unified notation and focusing on the normalisation f_{NL} of the bispectrum. When the classical curvature perturbation first appears a few Hubble times after horizon exit, |f_{NL}| is much less than 1 and is, therefore, negligible. Thereafter ζ(and hence f_{NL}) is conserved as long as the pressure is a …
We develop a method to constrain the level of non-Gaussianity of density perturbations when the 3-point function is of the "equilateral" type. Departures from Gaussianity of this form are produced by single field models such as ghost or DBI inflation and in general by the presence of higher order derivative operators in the effective Lagrangian of the inflaton. We show that the induced shape of the 3-point function can be very well approximated by a factorizable form, making the analysis practical. We also show that, unless one has a full sky map with uniform noise, in order to saturate the Cr…
Recent second-order perturbation computations have provided an accurate prediction for the primordial gravitational potential $Φ(x)$ in scenarios in which cosmological perturbations are generated either during or after inflation. This enables us to make realistic predictions for a non-Gaussian part of $Φ(x)$, which is generically written in momentum space as a double convolution of its Gaussian part with a suitable kernel, f_NL(k1,k2). This kernel defines the amplitude and angular structure of the non-Gaussian signals and originates from the evolution of second-order perturbations after the ge…
Light scalars may be ubiquitous in nature, and their quantum fluctuations can produce large non-Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy. The non-Gaussianity may be accompanied with a small admixture of isocurvature perturbations, which often have correlations with the curvature perturbations. We present a general method to calculate the non-Gaussianity in the adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations with and without correlations, and see how it works in several explicit examples. We also show that they leave distinct signatures on the bispectrum of the cosmic micr…
In the framework of inflationary models with non-vacuum initial states for cosmological perturbations, we study non-Gaussian signatures on the cosmic microwave background radiation produced by a broken-scale-invariant model which incorporates a feature at a privileged scale in the primordial power spectrum.
We develop a formalism to study non-Gaussianity in both curvature and isocurvature perturbations. It is shown that non-Gaussianity in the isocurvature perturbation between dark matter and photons leaves distinct signatures in the CMB temperature fluctuations, which may be confirmed in future experiments, or possibly, even in the currently available observational data. As an explicit example, we consider the QCD axion and show that it can actually induce sizable non-Gaussianity for the inflationary scale, H_{inf} = O(10^9 - 10^{11})GeV.
We perform a general study of primordial scalar non-Gaussianities in single field inflationary models in Einstein gravity. We consider models where the inflaton Lagrangian is an arbitrary function of the scalar field and its first derivative, and the sound speed is arbitrary. We find that under reasonable assumptions, the non-Gaussianity is completely determined by 5 parameters. In special limits of the parameter space, one finds distinctive ``shapes'' of the non-Gaussianity. In models with a small sound speed, several of these shapes would become potentially observable in the near future. Dif…
We study non-Gaussian signatures on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation predicted within inflationary models with non-vacuum initial states for cosmological perturbations. The model incorporates a privileged scale, which implies the existence of a feature in the primordial power spectrum. This broken-scale-invariant model predicts a vanishing three-point correlation function for the CMB temperature anisotropies (or any other odd-numbered-point correlation function) whilst an intrinsic non-Gaussian signature arises for any even-numbered-point correlation function. We thus focus on t…
I compute the effect on the power spectrum of tracers of the large-scale mass-density field (e.g., galaxies) of primordial non-Gaussianity of the form Phi=phi+fNL (phi-<phi^2>)+gNL phi^3+..., where Phi is proportional to the initial potential fluctuations and phi is a Gaussian field, using beyond-linear-order perturbation theory. I find that the need to eliminate large higher-order corrections necessitates the addition of a new term to the bias model, proportional to phi, i.e., delta_g=b_delta delta+b_phi fNL phi+..., with all the consequences this implies for clustering statistics, e.g., P_gg…
We calculate the bispectrum of the gravitational field fluctuations generated during warm inflation, where dissipation of the vacuum potential during inflation is the mechanism for structure formation. The bispectrum is non--zero because of the self--interaction of the scalar field. We compare the predictions with those of standard, or `supercooled', inflationary models, and consider the detectability of these levels of non--Gaussianity in the bispectrum of the cosmic microwave background. We find that the levels of non--Gaussianity for warm and supercooled inflation are comparable, and over--…
Any hint of non-gaussianity in the cosmological initial conditions will provide us with a unique window into the physics of early universe. We show that the impact of a small local primordial non-gaussianity (generated on super-horizon 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 pre…
