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Xian Gao

Publications and source records attributed to Xian Gao.

89 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv2011

Inflation and primordial non-Gaussianities of "generalized Galileons"

We set up cosmological perturbation theory and study the cosmological implications of the so-called ``generalized Galileon'' developed in \cite{Deffayet:2011gz,horndeski}. This is the most general scalar field theory whose Lagrangian contains derivatives up to second order while keeping second order equations of motion, and contains as sub-cases $k$-inflation, $G$-inflation and many other models. We calculate the power spectrum of the primordial curvature perturbation, finding a modification of the usual consistency relation of the tensor-to-scalar ratio in $k$-inflation or perfect fluid models. Finally we also calculate the bispectrum, which contains no new shapes beyond those of $k$-inflation.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2011

Conserved cosmological perturbation in Galileon models

We prove the existence of a fully nonlinear conserved curvature perturbation on large scales in Galileon-type scalar field models in two approaches. The first approach is based on the conservation of energy-momentum tensor of the Galileon field, which is also the familiar approach in understanding the conservation in $k$-essence or perfect fluid models. We show that the fluid corresponding to the Galileon field becomes perfect and barotropic on large scales, which is responsible to the conservation. The difference from $k$-essence model is that, besides the energy-momentum conservation, the Einstein equation must be employed in order to complete the proof of barotropy. In the second approach, we derive the fully non-perturbative action for the curvature perturbation $ζ$ in Galileon model on large scales, and argue that $ζ=const$ is indeed an exact solution on large scales. This conservation of curvature perturbation is important since it relates the later and the primordial universe.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2011

Primordial non-Gaussianities of gravitational waves in the most general single-field inflation model

We completely clarify the feature of primordial non-Gaussianities of tensor perturbations in generalized G-inflation, i.e., the most general single-field inflation model with second order field equations. It is shown that the most general cubic action for the tensor perturbation (gravitational wave) $h_{ij}$ is composed only of two contributions, one with two spacial derivatives and the other with one time derivative on each $h_{ij}$. The former is essentially identical to the cubic term that appears in Einstein gravity and predicts a squeezed shape, while the latter newly appears in the presence of the kinetic coupling to the Einstein tensor and predicts an equilateral shape. Thus, only two shapes appear in the graviton bispectrum of the most general single-field inflation model, which could open a new clue to the identification of inflationary gravitational waves in observations of cosmic microwave background anisotropies as well as direct gravitational wave detection experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2011

Testing gravity with non-Gaussianity

We show that modified gravity presents distinctive nonlinear features on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies comparing with General Relativity (GR). We calculate the contribution to the CMB non-Gaussianity from nonlinear Sachs-Wolfe effect in $f(R)$ gravity and show that, contrary to GR's contribution which is typically $\lesssim \mathcal{O}(1)$, the contribution in $f(R)$ gravity is sensitive to the nonlinear structure of $f(R)$ and can be large in principle. Optimistically, this gives an alternative origin for the possibly observed large CMB non-Gaussianities besides the primordial ones. On the other hand, such nonlinear features can be employed to provide a new cosmological test of $f(R)$ or other modified theories of gravitation, which is unique and independent of previously known tests.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2011

Can Relic Superhorizon Inhomogeneities be Responsible for Large-Scale CMB Anomalies?

We investigate the effects of the presence of relic classical superhorizon inhomogeneities during inflation. This superhorizon inhomogeneity appears as a gradient locally and picks out a preferred direction. Quantum fluctuations on this slightly inhomogeneous background are generally statistical anisotropic. We find a quadrupole modification to the ordinary isotropic spectrum. Moreover, this deviation from statistical isotropy is scale-dependent, with a $\sim -1/k^2$ factor. This result implies that the statistical anisotropy mainly appears on large scales, while the spectrum on small scales remains highly isotropic. Moreover, due to this $-1/k^2$ factor, the power on large scales is suppressed. Thus, our model can simultaneously explain the observed anisotropic alignments of the low-$\ell$ multipoles and their low power.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2011

From k-essence to generalised Galileons

We determine the most general scalar field theories which have an action that depends on derivatives of order two or less, and have equations of motion that stay second order and lower on flat space-time. We show that those theories can all be obtained from linear combinations of Lagrangians made by multiplying a particular form of the Galileon Lagrangian by an arbitrary scalar function of the scalar field and its first derivatives. We also obtain curved space-time extensions of those theories which have second order field equations for both the metric and the scalar field. This provide the most general extension, under the condition that field equations stay second order, of k-essence, Galileons, k-Mouflage as well as of the kinetically braided scalars. It also gives the most general action for a scalar classicalizer, which has second order field equations. We discuss the relation between our construction and the Euler hierachies of Fairlie et al, showing in particular that Euler hierachies allow one to obtain the most general theory when the latter is shift symmetric. As a simple application of our formalism, we give the covariantized version of the conformal Galileon.

hep-th↗
arXiv2010

On non-linear CMB temperature anisotropy from gravitational perturbations

Non-linear CMB temperature anisotropies up to the third-order on large scales are calculated. On large scales and in the Sachs-Wolfe limit, we give the explicit expression for the observed temperature anisotropy in terms of the primordial curvature perturbation up to the third-order. We derived the final bispectrum and trispectrum of anisotropies and the corresponding non-linear parameters, in which the contributions to the observed non-Gaussianity from primordial perturbations and from the non-linear mapping from primordial curvature perturbation to the temperature anisotropy are transparently separated.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2010

On Cross-correlations between Curvature and Isocurvature Perturbations during Inflation

We investigate the effects of couplings between curvature and isocurvature perturbations before and around horizon-crossings during cosmological inflation. We consider a generalized two-field inflation model, in which the non-canonical kinetic term allows us arbitrary sound speeds of curvature and isocurvature perturbations. By using the field-theoretical perturbative analysis, we calculate the cross-spectrum between curvature and isocurvature perturbations and the corrections to curvature and isocurvature power spectra due to the presence of couplings between them. Our analysis confirms previous results that the cross-correlations are generated and amplified when perturbations cross the horizons. Moreover, we find the cross-correlation, which was previously shown to be first-order in slow-roll parameter, can be enhanced when the sound speed of isocurvature perturbation is much smaller than that of the curvature perturbation. This is because in this case the isocurvature perturbation exits its horizon much earlier than the curvature perturbation and acts as a nearly constant source on the curvature perturbation.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

Fluctuations in a Hořava-Lifshitz Bouncing Cosmology

Hořava-Lifshitz gravity is a potentially UV complete theory with important implications for the very early universe. In particular, in the presence of spatial curvature it is possible to obtain a non-singular bouncing cosmology. The bounce is realized as a consequence of higher order spatial curvature terms in the gravitational action. Here, we extend the study of linear cosmological perturbations in Hořava-Lifshitz gravity coupled to matter in the case when spatial curvature is present. As in the case without spatial curvature, we find that there is no extra dynamical degree of freedom for scalar metric perturbations. We study the evolution of fluctuations through the bounce and show that the solutions remain non-singular throughout. If we start with quantum vacuum fluctuations on sub-Hubble scales in the contracting phase, and if the contracting phase is dominated by pressure-less matter, then for $λ= 1$ and in the infrared limit the perturbations at late times are scale invariant. Thus, Hořava-Lifshitz gravity can provide a realization of the ``matter bounce'' scenario of structure formation.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

Primordial Non-Gaussianities from the Trispectra in Multiple Field Inflationary Models

We investigate the primordial non-Gaussianities from the trispectra in multi-field inflation models, which can be seen as generalization of multi-field $k$-inflation and multi-DBI inflation. We derive the full fourth-order perturbation action for the inflaton fields and evaluate the four-point correlation functions for the perturbations in the limit $\ca \ll 1$ and $\ce \ll1$. There are three types of momentum-dependent shape functions which arise from three types of four-point interaction vertices. The final trispectrum of the curvature perturbation can be expressed in terms of the deformations and permutations of these three shape functions, and is determined by $\ca$, $\ce$, $λ$, $Π$ which depend on the non-linear structure of the model and also the transfer function $T_{\Rc\Sc}$. We also discuss the parameter space for the trispectrum and plot the shape diagrams for the trispectrum both for visualization and for distinguishing different shapes from each other.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2009

Primordial Trispectrum from Entropy Perturbations in Multifield DBI Model

We investigate the primordial trispectra of the general multifield DBI inflationary model. In contrast with the single field model, the entropic modes can source the curvature perturbations on the super horizon scales, so we calculate the contributions from the interaction of four entropic modes mediating one adiabatic mode to the trispectra, at the large transfer limit ($T_{RS}\gg1$). We obtained the general form of the 4-point correlation functions, plotted the shape diagrams in two specific momenta configurations, "equilateral configuration" and "specialized configuration". Our figures showed that we can easily distinguish the two different momenta configurations.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2009

Loop Corrections to Cosmological Perturbations in Multi-field Inflationary Models

We investigate one-loop quantum corrections to the power spectrum of adiabatic perturbation from entropy modes/adiabatic mode cross-interactions in multiple DBI inflationary models. We find that due to the non-canonical kinetic term in DBI models, the loop corrections are enhanced by slow-varying parameter $ε$ and small sound speed $c_s$. Thus, in general the loop-corrections in multi-DBI models can be large. Moreover, we find that the loop-corrections from adiabatic/entropy cross-interaction vertices are IR finite.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

Cosmological Perturbations in Hořava-Lifshitz Gravity

We study cosmological perturbations in Hořava-Lifshitz Gravity. We consider scalar metric fluctuations about a homogeneous and isotropic space-time. Starting from the most general metric, we work out the complete second order action for the perturbations. We then make use of the residual gauge invariance and of the constraint equations to reduce the number of dynamical degrees of freedom. After introducing the Sasaki-Mukhanov variable, the combination of spatial metric fluctuation and matter inhomogeneity for which the action in General Relativity has canonical form, we find that this variable has the standard time derivative term in the second order action, and that the extra degree of freedom is non-dynamical. The limit $λ\to 1$ is well-behaved, unlike what is obtained when performing incomplete analyses of cosmological fluctuations. Thus, there is no strong coupling problem for Hořava-Lifshitz gravity when considering cosmological solutions. We also compute the spectrum of cosmological perturbations. If the potential in the action is taken to be of "detailed balance" form, we find a cancelation of the highest derivative terms in the action for the curvature fluctuations. As a consequence, the initial spectrum of perturbations will not be scale-invariant in a general spacetime background. As an application, we consider fluctuations in an inflationary background and draw connections with the "trans-Planckian problem" for cosmological perturbations. In the special case in which the potential term in the action is of detailed balance form and in which $λ= 1$, the equation of motion for cosmological perturbations in the far UV takes the same form as in GR. However, in general the equation of motion is characterized by a modified dispersion relation.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

Primordial Non-Gaussianities of General Multiple Field Inflation

We perform a general study of the primordial scalar non-Gaussianities in multi-field inflationary models in Einstein gravity. We consider models governed by a Lagrangian which is a general function of the scalar fields and their first spacetime derivatives. We use $δN$ formalism to relate scalar fields and curvature perturbations. We calculate the explicit cubic order perturbation action and the three-point function of curvature perturbation evaluated at horizon-crossing. Under reasonable assumptions, in the limit of small slow-varying parameters and a sound speed $c_s$ close to one, we find that the non-Gaussianity is completely determined by these slow-varying parameters and some other parameters determined by the structure of the inflationary models. Our work generalizes previous results, and would be useful to study non-Gaussianity in multi-field inflationary models that will be constructed in the future.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2008

Reheating and Cosmic String Production

We compute the string production rate at the end of inflation, using the string spectrum obtained in \lss in a near-de Sitter space. Our result shows that highly excited strings are hardly produced, thus the simple slow-roll inflation alone does not offer a cosmic string production mechanism.

hep-th↗
arXiv2007

Non-supersymmetric Attractors in Born-Infeld Black Holes with a Cosmological Constant

We investigate the attractor mechanism for spherically symmetric extremal black holes in Einstein-Born-Infeld-dilaton theory of gravity in four-dimensions, in the presence of a cosmological constant. We look for solutions analytic near the horizon by using perturbation method. It is shown that the values of the scalar fields at the horizon are only dependent on the charges carried by the black hole and are irrelevant in their asymptotic values. This analysis supports the validity of non-supersymmetric attractors in the presence of higher derivative interactions in the gauge fields part and in non-asymptotically flat spacetime.

hep-th↗