Abstract
Several models of inflation employing a triplet of SU(2) vectors with spatially orthogonal vacuum expectation values (VEVs) have been recently proposed. One (tensor) combination t of the vector modes is amplified in some momentum range during inflation. Due to the vector VEVs, this combination mixes with gravitational waves (GW) at the linear level, resulting in a GW amplification that has been well studied in the literature. Scalar perturbations in this class of models have been so far studied only at the linear level. We perform a first step toward the nonlinear computation using as an example the original model of Chromo-Natural Inflation. We compute the contribution to the scalar power spectrum arising from the coupling of the combination t to the inflaton. This contribution is mostly controlled by a single parameter of the model (namely, the ratio between the mass of the fluctuations of the vector field and the Hubble rate), and, for a wide range of this parameter, it can significantly affect the phenomenology obtained from the linear theory. This nonlinear contribution is significantly blue, improving the comparison between the two-point function and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data. This growth can be also relevant for smaller scale phenomenology, such as large scale structure, CMB distortions, and primordial black holes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 030 |
Journal | Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics |
Volume | 2018 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 20 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Lorenzo Sorbo for very useful discussions. The work of M.P. is partially supported from the DOE grant DE-SC0011842 at the University of Minnesota.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab.
Keywords
- cosmological perturbation theory
- ination