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Register a new userOn testing and extending the inflationary consistency relation for tensor modes
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Latham Boyle
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If observations confirm BICEP2s claim of a tensor-scalar ratio $rapprox 0.2$ on CMB scales, then the inflationary consistency relation $n_{t}=-r/8$ predicts a small negative value for the tensor spectral index $n_t$. We show that future CMB polarization experiments should be able to confirm this prediction at several sigma. We also show how to properly extend the consistency relation to solar system scales, where the primordial gravitational wave density $Omega_{gw}$ could be measured by proposed experiments such as the Big Bang Observer. This would provide a far more stringent test of the consistency relation and access much more detailed information about the early universe.
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We constrain cosmological models where the primordial perturbations have both an adiabatic and a (possibly correlated) cold dark matter (CDM) or baryon isocurvature component. We use both a phenomenological approach, where the primordial power spectra are parametrized with amplitudes and spectral indices, and a slow-roll two-field inflation approach where slow-roll parameters are used as primary parameters. In the phenomenological case, with CMB data, the upper limit to the CDM isocurvature fraction is alpha<6.4% at k=0.002Mpc^{-1} and 15.4% at k=0.01Mpc^{-1}. The median 95% range for the non-adiabatic contribution to the CMB temperature variance is -0.030<alpha_T<0.049. Including the supernova (or large-scale structure, LSS) data, these limits become: alpha<7.0%, 13.7%, and -0.048<alpha_T< 0.042 (or alpha<10.2%, 16.0%, and -0.071<alpha_T<0.024). The CMB constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r<0.26 at k=0.01Mpc^{-1}, is not affected by the nonadiabatic modes. In the slow-roll two-field inflation approach, the spectral indices are constrained close to 1. This leads to tighter limits on the isocurvature fraction, with the CMB data alpha<2.6% at k=0.01Mpc^{-1}, but the constraint on alpha_T is not much affected, -0.058<alpha_T<0.045. Including SN (or LSS) data, these limits become: alpha< 3.2% and -0.056<alpha_T<0.030 (or alpha<3.4% and -0.063<alpha_T<-0.008). When all spectral indices are close to each other the isocurvature fraction is somewhat degenerate with the tensor-to-scalar ratio. In addition to the generally correlated models, we study also special cases where the perturbation modes are uncorrelated or fully (anti)correlated. We calculate Bayesian evidences (model probabilities) in 21 different cases for our nonadiabatic models and for the corresponding adiabatic models, and find that in all cases the data support the pure adiabatic model.
We propose a test of single-scalar inflation based on using the well-measured scalar power spectrum to reconstruct the tensor power spectrum, up to a single integration constant. Our test is a sort of integrated version of the single-scalar consistency relation. This sort of test can be used effectively, even when the tensor power spectrum is measured too poorly to resolve the tensor spectral index. We give an example using simulated data based on a hypothetical detection with tensor-to-scalar ratio $r = 0.01$. Our test can also be employed for correlating scalar and tensor features in the far future when the data is good.
We discuss the possibility of explaining the recent NANOGrav results by inflationary gravitational waves (IGWs) with a blue-tilted primordial spectrum. Although such IGWs can account for the NANOGrav signal without contradicting the upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at the cosmic microwave background scale, the predicted spectrum is in strong tension with the upper bound on the amplitude of the stochastic gravitational wave background by big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the second LIGO-Virgo observation run. However, the thermal history of the Universe, such as reheating and late-time entropy production, affects the spectral shape of IGWs at high frequencies and permits evading the upper bounds. We show that, for the standard reheating scenario, when the reheating temperature is relatively low, a blue tensor spectrum can explain the recent NANOGrav signal without contradicting the BBN and the LIGO-Virgo constraints. We further find that, when one considers a late-time entropy production, the NANOGrav signal can be explained even for an instant reheating scenario.
We review some recent trends in the inflationary model building, the supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking, the gravitino Dark Matter (DM) and the Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) production in supergravity. The Starobinsky inflation can be embedded into supergravity when the inflaton belongs to the massive vector multiplet associated with a (spontaneously broken) $U(1)$ gauge symmetry. The SUSY and R-symmetry can be also spontaneously broken after inflation by the (standard) Polonyi mechanism. Polonyi particles and gravitinos are super heavy and can be copiously produced during inflation via the Schwinger mechanism sourced by the Universe expansion. The overproduction and instability problems can be avoided, and the positive cosmological constant (dark energy) can also be introduced. The observed abundance of the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) composed of gravitinos can be achieved in our supergravity model too, thus providing the unifying framework for inflation, supersymmetry breaking, dark energy and dark matter genesis. Our supergravity approach may also lead to a formation of primordial non-linear structures like stellar-mass-type black holes, and may include the SUSY GUTs inspired by heterotic string compactifications, unifying particle physics with quantum gravity.
Higher-curvature corrections to the effective gravitational action may leave signatures in the spectrum of primordial tensor perturbations if the inflationary energy scale is sufficiently high. In this paper we further investigate the effects of a coupling of the Inflaton field to higher-curvature tensors in models with a minimal breaking of conformal symmetry. We show that an observable violation of the tensor consistency relation from higher-curvature tensors implies also a relatively large running of the tensor tilt, enhanced even by some order of magnitude with respect to the standard slow roll case. This may leave signatures in the tensor two-point function that we could test to recognize higher-curvature effects, above all if they are translated into a blue tilted spectrum visible by future Gravitational Wave experiments. Exploiting current cosmic microwave background and gravitational wave data we also derive constraints on the inflationary parameters, inferring that large higher-curvature corrections seem to be disfavored.
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