A de Sitter S-matrix from amputated cosmological correlators

Using the recently developed cosmological bootstrap method, we compute the exact analytical solution for the seed integral appearing in cosmological correlators with double massive scalar exchanges. The result is explicit, valid in any kinematic configuration, and free from spurious divergences. It is applicable to any number of fields’ species with any masses. With an appropriate choice of variables, the results contain only single-layer summations. We also propose simple approximate formulas valid in different limits, enabling direct and instantaneous evaluation. Supported by exact numerical results using CosmoFlow, we explore the phenomenology of double massive exchange diagrams. Contrary to single-exchange diagrams with ubiquitous Lorentz-covariant interactions, the size of the cubic coupling constant can be large while respecting perturbativity bounds. Because of this property, the primordial bispectrum from double-exchange diagrams can be as large as, coincidentally, current observational constraints. In addition to being sizable on equilateral configurations, we show that the primordial bispectrum exhibits a large cosmological collider signal in the squeezed limit, making the double massive exchanges interesting channels for the detection of massive primordial fields. We propose to decisively disentangle double-exchange channels from single-exchange ones with cosmological observations by exploiting the phase information of the cosmological collider signal, the inflationary flavor oscillations from multiple fields’ species exchanges and the double soft limit in the primordial trispectrum.

Cosmological correlators with double massive exchanges: bootstrap equation and phenomenology

Aoki,

Pinol,

Sano

et al. 2024

Conformal Yang-Mills field in (A)dS space

Metsaev

2024

Ordinary-derivative (second-derivative) Lagrangian formulation of classical conformal Yang-Mills field in the (A)dS space of six, eight, and ten dimensions is developed. For such conformal field, we develop two gauge invariant Lagrangian formulations which we refer to as generic formulation and decoupled formulation. In both formulations, the usual Yang-Mills field is accompanied by additional vector and scalar fields where the scalar fields are realized as Stueckelberg fields. In the generic formulation, the usual Yang-Mills field is realized as a primary field, while the additional vector fields are realized as auxiliary fields. In the decoupled formulation, the usual Yang-Mills field is realized as massless field, while the additional vector fields together with the Stueckelberg are realized as massive fields. Some massless/massive fields appear with the wrong sign of kinetic terms, hence demonstrating explicitly that the considered models are not unitary. The use of embedding space method allows us to treat the isometry symmetries of (A)dS space manifestly and obtain conformal transformations of fields in a relatively straightforward way. By accompanying each vector field by the respective gauge parameter, we introduce an extended gauge algebra. Levy-Maltsev decomposition of such algebra is noted. Use of the extended gauge algebra setup allows us to present concise form for the Lagrangian and gauge transformations of the conformal Yang-Mills field. Higher-derivative representation of the Lagrangian is also obtained.

The open effective field theory of inflation

Salcedo,

Colas,

Pajer

2024

In our quest to understand the generation of cosmological perturbations, we face two serious obstacles: we do not have direct information about the environment experienced by primordial perturbations during inflation, and our observables are practically limited to correlators of massless fields, heavier fields and derivatives decaying exponentially in the number of e-foldings. The flexible and general framework of open systems has been developed precisely to face similar challenges. Building on previous work, we develop a Schwinger-Keldysh path integral description for an open effective field theory of inflation, describing the possibly dissipative and non-unitary evolution of the Goldstone boson of time translations interacting with an unspecified environment, under the key assumption of locality in space and time. Working in the decoupling limit, we study the linear and interacting theory in de Sitter and derive predictions for the power spectrum and bispectrum that depend on a finite number of effective couplings organised in a derivative expansion. The smoking gun of interactions with the environment is an enhanced but finite bispectrum close to the folded kinematical limit. We demonstrate the generality of our approach by matching our open effective theory to an explicit model. Our construction provides a standard model to simultaneously study phenomenological predictions as well as quantum information aspects of the inflationary dynamics.