PIRSA:12050002 Scientific Series Cosmology

DOI10.48660/12050002

Series: Cosmology and Gravitation

Komatsu, E. (2012). New Probes of Initial State of Quantum Fluctuations During Inflation. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/12050002

Komatsu, Eiichiro. New Probes of Initial State of Quantum Fluctuations During Inflation. Perimeter Institute, May. 22, 2012, https://pirsa.org/12050002 

@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.   

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