arXiv subjects

Dong-Gang Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Dong-Gang Wang.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Origin of ultra-light fields during inflation and their suppressed non-Gaussianity

We study the structure of multi-field inflation models where the primordial curvature perturbation is able to vigorously interact with an ultra-light isocurvature field -- a massless fluctuation orthogonal to the background inflationary trajectory in field space. We identify a class of inflationary models where ultra-light fields can emerge as a consequence of an underlying "scaling transformation" that rescales the entire system's action and keeps the classical equations of motion invariant. This scaling invariance ensures the existence of an ultra-light fluctuation that freezes after horizon crossing. If the inflationary trajectory is misaligned with respect to the scaling symmetry direction, then the isocurvature field is proportional to this ultra-light field, and becomes massless. In addition, we find that even if the isocurvature field interacts strongly with the curvature perturbation --transferring its own statistics to the curvature perturbation-- it is unable to induce large non-Gaussianity. The reason is simply that the same mechanism ensuring a suppressed mass for the isocurvature field is also responsible for suppressing its self-interactions. As a result, in models with light isocurvature fields the bispectrum is generally expected to be slow-roll suppressed, but with a squeezed limit that differs from Maldacena's consistency relation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Universality and scaling in multi-field $α$-attractor preheating

We explore preheating in multi-field models of inflation in which the field-space metric is a highly curved hyperbolic manifold. One broad family of such models is called $α$-attractors, whose single-field regimes have been extensively studied in the context of inflation and supergravity. We focus on a simple two-field generalization of the $T$-model, which has received renewed attention in the literature. Krajewski et al. concluded, using lattice simulations, that multi-field effects can dramatically speed-up preheating. We recover their results and further demonstrate that significant analytical progress can be made for preheating in these models using the WKB approximation and Floquet analysis. We find a simple scaling behavior of the Floquet exponents for large values of the field-space curvature, that enables a quick estimation of the $T$-model reheating efficiency for any large value of the field-space curvature. In this regime we further observe and explain universal preheating features that arise for different values of the potential steepness. In general preheating is faster for larger negative values of the field-space curvature and steeper potentials. For very highly curved field-space manifolds preheating is essentially instantaneous.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Primordial Black Holes from Sound Speed Resonance during Inflation

We report on a novel phenomenon of the resonance effect of primordial density perturbations arisen from a sound speed parameter with an oscillatory behavior, which can generically lead to the formation of primordial black holes in the early Universe. For a general inflaton field, it can seed primordial density fluctuations and their propagation is governed by a parameter of sound speed square. Once if this parameter achieves an oscillatory feature for a while during inflation, a significant non-perturbative resonance effect on the inflaton field fluctuations takes place around a critical length scale, which results in significant peaks in the primordial power spectrum. By virtue of this robust mechanism, primordial black holes with specific mass function can be produced with a sufficient abundance for dark matter in sizable parameter ranges.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Hypernatural inflation

We constructed a model of natural inflation in the context of $α$-attractor supergravity, in which both the dilaton field and the axion field are light during inflation, and the inflaton may be a combination of the two. The T-model version of this theory is defined on the Poincare disk with radius |Z| = 1. It describes a Mexican hat potential with the flat axion direction corresponding to a circle of radius |Z| < 1. The axion decay constant $f_{a}$ in this theory can be exponentially large because of the hyperbolic geometry of the Poincare disk. Depending on initial conditions, this model may describe $α$-attractor inflation driven by the radial component of the inflaton field, natural inflation driven by the axion field, or a sequence of these two regimes. We also construct the E-model version of this theory, which has similar properties. In addition, we describe generalized $α$-attractor models where the potential can be singular at the boundary of the moduli space, and show that they can provide a simple solution for the problem of initial conditions for the models with plateau potentials.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Universality of multi-field $α$-attractors

We study a particular version of the theory of cosmological $α$-attractors with $α=1/3$, in which both the dilaton (inflaton) field and the axion field are light during inflation. The kinetic terms in this theory originate from maximal $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal symmetry and from maximal $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity. We show that because of the underlying hyperbolic geometry of the moduli space in this theory, it exhibits double attractor behavior: their cosmological predictions are stable not only with respect to significant modifications of the dilaton potential, but also with respect to significant modifications of the axion potential: $n_s\simeq 1-{2\over N}$, $r\simeq {4\over N^2}$. We also show that the universality of predictions extends to other values of $α\lesssim {\cal O}(1)$ with general two-field potentials that may or may not have an embedding in supergravity. Our results support the idea that inflation involving multiple, not stabilized, light fields on a hyperbolic manifold may be compatible with current observational constraints for a broad class of potentials.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Revisiting non-Gaussianity from non-attractor inflation models

Non-attractor inflation is known as the only single field inflationary scenario that can violate non-Gaussianity consistency relation with the Bunch-Davies vacuum state and generate large local non-Gaussianity. However, it is also known that the non-attractor inflation by itself is incomplete and should be followed by a phase of slow-roll attractor. Moreover, there is a transition process between these two phases. In the past literature, this transition was approximated as instant and the evolution of non-Gaussianity in this phase was not fully studied. In this paper, we follow the detailed evolution of the non-Gaussianity through the transition phase into the slow-roll attractor phase, considering different types of transition. We find that the transition process has important effect on the size of the local non-Gaussianity. We first compute the net contribution of the non-Gaussianities at the end of inflation in canonical non-attractor models. If the curvature perturbations keep evolving during the transition - such as in the case of smooth transition or some sharp transition scenarios - the $\mathcal{O}(1)$ local non-Gaussianity generated in the non-attractor phase can be completely erased by the subsequent evolution, although the consistency relation remains violated. In extremal cases of sharp transition where the super-horizon modes freeze immediately right after the end of the non-attractor phase, the original non-attractor result can be recovered. We also study models with non-canonical kinetic terms, and find that the transition can typically contribute a suppression factor in the squeezed bispectrum, but the final local non-Gaussianity can still be made parametrically large.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Matter bounce cosmology with a generalized single field: non-Gaussianity and an extended no-go theorem

We extend the matter bounce scenario to a more general theory in which the background dynamics and cosmological perturbations are generated by a $k$-essence scalar field with an arbitrary sound speed. When the sound speed is small, the curvature perturbation is enhanced, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio, which is excessively large in the original model, can be sufficiently suppressed to be consistent with observational bounds. Then, we study the primordial three-point correlation function generated during the matter-dominated contraction stage and find that it only depends on the sound speed parameter. Similar to the canonical case, the shape of the bispectrum is mainly dominated by a local form, though for some specific sound speed values a new shape emerges and the scaling behaviour changes. Meanwhile, a small sound speed also results in a large amplitude of non-Gaussianities, which is disfavored by current observations. As a result, it does not seem possible to suppress the tensor-to-scalar ratio without amplifying the production of non-Gaussianities beyond current observational constraints (and vice versa). This suggests an extension of the previously conjectured no-go theorem in single field nonsingular matter bounce cosmologies, which rules out a large class of models. However, the non-Gaussianity results remain as a distinguishable signature of matter bounce cosmology and have the potential to be detected by observations in the near future.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Bouncing cosmologies with dark matter and dark energy

We review matter bounce scenarios where the matter content is dark matter and dark energy. These cosmologies predict a nearly scale-invariant power spectrum with a slightly red tilt for scalar perturbations and a small tensor-to-scalar ratio. Importantly, these models predict a positive running of the scalar index, contrary to the predictions of the simplest inflationary and ekpyrotic models, and hence could potentially be falsified by future observations. We also review how bouncing cosmological space-times can arise in theories where either the Einstein equations are modified or where matter fields that violate the null energy condition are included.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Vacuum and Gravitons of Relic Gravitational Waves, and Regularization of Spectrum and Energy-Momentum Tensor

The spectrum of relic gravitational wave (RGW) contains high-frequency divergences, which should be removed. We present a systematic study of the issue, based on the exact RGW solution that covers the five stages, from inflation to the acceleration, each being a power law expansion. We show that the present RGW consists of vacuum dominating at $f>10^{11}$Hz and graviton dominating at $f<10^{11}$Hz, respectively. The gravitons are produced by the four cosmic transitions, mostly by the inflation-reheating one. We perform adiabatic regularization to remove vacuum divergences in three schemes: at present, at the end of inflation, and at horizon-exit, to the 2-nd adiabatic order for the spectrum, and the 4-th order for energy density and pressure. In the first scheme a cutoff is needed to remove graviton divergences. We find that all three schemes yield the spectra of a similar profile, and the primordial spectrum defined far outside horizon during inflation is practically unaffected. We also regularize the gauge-invariant perturbed inflaton and the scalar curvature perturbation by the last two schemes, and find that the scalar spectra, the tensor-to-scalar ratio, and the consistency relation remain unchanged.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Hearing the echoes of electroweak baryogenesis with gravitational wave detectors

We report on the first joint analysis of observational signatures from the electroweak baryogenesis in both gravitational wave (GW) detectors and particle colliders. With an effective extension of the Higgs sector in terms of the dimension-6 operators, we derive a strong first-order phase transition in associated with a sizable CP violation to realize a successful electroweak baryogenesis. We calculate the GW spectrum resulting from the bubble nucleation, plasma transportation, and magnetohydrodynamic turbulence of this process that occurred after the big bang, and find that it yields GW signals testable in Evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory and Big Bang Observer. We further identify collider signals from the same mechanism that are observable at the planning Circular Electron Positron Collider. Our analysis bridges astrophysics/cosmology with particle physics by providing significant motivation for searches for GW event peaking at the $(10^{-4}, 1)$ Hz range, which are associated with signals at colliders, and highlights the possibility of an interdisciplinary observational window into baryogenesis. The technique applied in analyzing early universe phase transitions may enlighten the study of phase transitions in applied science.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Features from the non-attractor beginning of inflation

We study the effects of the non-attractor initial conditions for the canonical single-field inflation. The non-attractor stage can last only several $e$-folding numbers, and should be followed by hilltop inflation. This two-stage evolution leads to large scale suppression in the primordial power spectrum, which is favored by recent observations. Moreover we give a detailed calculation of primordial non-Guassianity due to the "from non-attractor to slow-roll" transition, and find step features in the local and equilateral shapes. We conclude that a plateau-like inflaton potential with an initial non-attractor phase yields interesting features in both power spectrum and bispectrum.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Searching for a matter bounce cosmology with low redshift observations

The matter bounce scenario allows for a sizable parameter space where cosmological fluctuations originally exited the Hubble radius when the background energy density was small. In this scenario and its extended versions, the low energy degrees of freedom are likely responsible for the statistical properties of the cosmic microwave background power spectrum at large length scales. An interesting consequence is that these modes might be observable only at relatively late times. Therefore low redshift observations could provide evidence for, or even falsify, various bouncing models. We provide an example where a recently hinted potential deviation from $Λ$-cold-dark-matter cosmology results from a dark matter and dark energy interaction. The same interaction allows matter bounce models to generate a red tilt for the primordial curvature perturbations in corroboration with cosmic microwave background experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Scale-dependent CMB power asymmetry from primordial speed of sound and a generalized $δ$N formalism

We explore a plausible mechanism that the hemispherical power asymmetry in the CMB is produced by the spatial variation of the primordial sound speed parameter. We suggest that in a generalized approach of the $δN$ formalism the local e-folding number may depend on some other primordial parameters besides the initial values of inflaton. Here the $δN$ formalism is extended by considering the effects of a spatially varying sound speed parameter caused by a super-Hubble perturbation of a light field. Using this generalized $δN$ formalism, we systematically calculate the asymmetric primordial spectrum in the model of multi-speed inflation by taking into account the constraints of primordial non-Gaussianities. We further discuss specific model constraints, and the corresponding asymmetry amplitudes are found to be scale-dependent, which can accommodate current observations of the power asymmetry at different length scales.

astro-ph.CO↗