New Probes of Initial State of Quantum Fluctuations During Inflation

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:12050002,
            doi = {10.48660/12050002},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/12050002},
            author = {Komatsu, Eiichiro},
            keywords = {Cosmology},
            language = {en},
            title = {New Probes of Initial State of Quantum Fluctuations During Inflation},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2012},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:12050002 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

How did inflation actually happen? Precision measurements of statistical properties of primordial fluctuations generated during inflation offer a direct probe of the physics of inflation. When we calculate statistical properties of primordial fluctuations generated during inflation, we usually assume that the initial state of quantum fluctuations is in a preferred vacuum state called Bunch-Davies vacuum. While there is some motivation for choosing such a state, this is an assumption, and thus needs to be tested by observations. In this talk I will present new probes of initial state of quantum fluctuations during inflation: the 3-point function of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy, the 2-point function of galaxies, and a spectral distortion of the thermal spectrum of the cosmic microwave background.