We adopt methods from statistical field theory to stochastic inflation. For the example of a free test field in de Sitter and power-law inflation, the power spectrum of long-wavelength fluctuations is computed. We study its dependence on the shape of the filter that separates long from short wavelength modes. While for filters with infinite support the phenomenon of dimensional reductions is found on large super-horizon scales, filters with compact support return a scale-invariant power spectrum in the infra-red. Features of the power spectrum, induced by the filter, decay within a few e-foldings. Thus the late-time power spectrum is independent of the filter details.
We extend the formalism of stochastic inflation to the setup of non-attractor inflation with a sound speed $c_s$. We obtain the Langevin equations for the superhorizon perturbations and calculate the stochastic corrections to curvature perturbation power spectrum. It is shown that the fractional stochastic corrections in mean number of e-folds and power spectrum are at the order of power spectrum. We also calculate the boundary crossing and the first hitting probabilities in a hypothetical dS space with two boundaries in field space. Furthermore, the stochastic corrections in power spectrum in…
Stochastic inflation is an effective theory describing the super-Hubble, coarse-grained, scalar fields driving inflation, by a set of Langevin equations. We previously highlighted the difficulty of deriving a theory of stochastic inflation that is invariant under field redefinitions, and the link with the ambiguity of discretisation schemes defining stochastic differential equations. In this paper, we solve the issue of these "inflationary stochastic anomalies" by using the Stratonovich discretisation satisfying general covariance, and identifying that the quantum nature of the fluctuating fie…
We propose a coarse-graining procedure for describing the superhorizon dynamics of inflationary tensor modes. Our aim is to formulate a stochastic description for the statistics of spin-2 modes which seed the background of gravitational waves from inflation. Using basic principles of quantum mechanics, we determine a probability density for coarse-grained tensor fields, which satisfies a stochastic Fokker-Planck equation at superhorizon scales. The corresponding noise and drift are computable, and depend on the cosmological system under consideration. Our general formulas are applied to a vari…
We compute the power spectrum of curvature perturbations in stochastic inflation. This combines the distribution of first crossing times through the end-of-inflation surface, which has been previously studied, with the distribution of the fields value at the time when a given scale crosses out the Hubble radius during inflation, which we show how to compute. This allows the stochastic-$δN$ formalism to make concrete contact with observations. As an application, we study how quantum diffusion at small scales (arising e.g. in models leading to primordial black holes) affects the large-scale pert…
We present a review on the state-of-the-art of the mathematical framework known as stochastic inflation, paying special attention to its derivation and giving references for the readers interested on results coming from the application of the stochastic framework to different inflationary scenarios, especially to those of interest for primordial black hole formation. During the derivation of the stochastic formalism, we will emphasise two aspects in particular: the difference between the separate universe approach and the true long wavelength limit of scalar inhomogeneities and the generically…
We study the Brownian motion of a field where there are boundaries in the inflationary field space. Both the field and the boundary undergo Brownian motions with the amplitudes of the noises determined by the Hubble expansion rate of the corresponding dS spacetime. This setup mimics models of inflation in which curvature perturbation is induced from inhomogeneities generated at the surface of end of inflation. The cases of the drift dominated regime as well as the diffusion dominated regime are studied in details. We calculate the first hitting probabilities as well as the mean number of e-fol…
We revisit the model of axion inflation in the context of stochastic inflation and investigate the effects of the stochastic noises associated to the electromagnetic fields. Because of the parity violating interaction, one polarization of the gauge field is amplified inducing large curvature perturbation power spectrum. Taking into account the stochastic kicks arising from the short modes at the time of horizon crossing we obtain the corresponding Langevin equations for the long modes of the electromagnetic and axion fields. It is shown that a mean-reverting process governs the dynamics of the…
An appealing feature of inflationary cosmology is the presence of a phase-space attractor, "slow roll", which washes out the dependence on initial field velocities. We investigate the robustness of this property under backreaction from quantum fluctuations using the stochastic inflation formalism in the phase-space approach. A Hamiltonian formulation of stochastic inflation is presented, where it is shown that the coarse-graining procedure - where wavelengths smaller than the Hubble radius are integrated out - preserves the canonical structure of free fields. This means that different sets of …
Certain models of cosmic inflation produce strong cosmological perturbations at short length scales, which may later collapse into primordial black holes. To find the statistics of these strong perturbations and the ensuing black holes, it is necessary to go beyond linear perturbation theory. Stochastic inflation provides a way to take the leading non-linear effects into account. In this contribution, I discuss recent progress in numerical computations of stochastic inflation. A numerical approach can include more of the non-linearities than an analytical calculation, and can be applied to sin…
Nonperturbative stochastic inflation in perturbative dynamical background
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）；Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP)（亚太理论物理中心）
