David Garrison

We describe a technique for using simulated tensor perturbations in order to place upper limits on the intensity of magnetic fields in the early universe. As an example, we apply this technique to the beginning of primordial nucleosynthesis. We determined that any magnetic seed fields that existed before that time were still in the process of being amplified. In the future, we plan to apply this technique to a wider range of initial magnetic fields and cosmological epochs.

Kaloian D. Lozanov, Mustafa A. Amin

We calculate the equation of state after inflation and provide an upper bound on the duration before radiation domination by taking the nonlinear dynamics of the fragmented inflaton field into account. A broad class of single-field inflationary models with observationally consistent flattening of the potential at a scale $M$ away from the origin, $V(\phi)\propto |\phi|^{2n}$ near the origin, and where the couplings to other fields are ignored are included in our analysis. We find that the equation of state parameter $w\rightarrow 0$ for $n=1$ and $w\rightarrow 1/3$ (after sufficient time) for $n\gtrsim 1$. We calculate how the number of $e$-folds to radiation domination depends on both $n$ and $M$ when $M\sim m_{\rm pl}$, whereas when $M\ll m_{\rm pl}$, we find that the duration to radiation domination is negligible. Our results are explained in terms of a linear instability analysis in an expanding universe, scaling arguments, and are supported by detailed 3+1 dimensional lattice simulations. We show how our work significantly reduces the uncertainty in inflationary observables, even after including couplings to additional light fields.

Antony Lewis, Geraint Pratten

Observed CMB anisotropies are lensed, and the lensed power spectra can be calculated accurately assuming the lensing deflections are Gaussian. However, the lensing deflections are actually slightly non-Gaussian due to both non-linear large-scale structure growth and post-Born corrections. We calculate the leading correction to the lensed CMB power spectra from the non-Gaussianity, which is determined by the lensing bispectrum. The lowest-order result gives $\sim 0.3\%$ corrections to the BB and EE polarization spectra on small-scales, however we show that the effect on EE is reduced by about a factor of two by higher-order Gaussian lensing smoothing, rendering the total effect safely negligible for the foreseeable future. We give a simple analytic model for the signal expected from skewness of the large-scale lensing field; the effect is similar to a net demagnification and hence a small change in acoustic scale (and therefore out of phase with the dominant lensing smoothing that predominantly affects the peaks and troughs of the power spectrum).

Xingang Chen, Mohammad Hossein Namjoo, Yi Wang

Since Hubble and Lamaitre's discovery of the expanding universe using galaxies till the recent discovery of the accelerating universe using standard candles, direct measurements of the evolution of the scale factor of the universe a(t) have played central roles in establishing the standard model of cosmology. In this letter, we show that such a measurement may be extended to the primordial universe using massive fields as standard clocks, providing a direct evidence for the scenario responsible for the Big Bang. This is a short and non-technical introduction to the idea of classical and quantum primordial standard clocks.

Gregory Gabadadze, Siqing Yu

A certain class of nonlocal theories eliminates an arbitrary cosmological constant (CC) from a universe that can be perceived as our world. Dark energy then cannot be explained by a CC; it could however be due to massive gravity. We calculate the new corrections, which originate from the nonlocal terms that eliminate the CC, to the decoupling limit Lagrangian of massive gravity. The new nonlocal terms also have internal field space Galilean symmetry and are referred here as "nonlocal Galileons." We then study a self-accelerated solution and show that the new nonlocal terms change the perturbative stability analysis. In particular, small fluctuations are now stable and non-superluminal for some simple parameter choices, whereas for the same choices the pure massive gravity fluctuations are unstable. We also study stable spherically symmetric solutions on this background.

L. Campanelli, A. Marrone

In the Ratra scenario of inflationary magnetogenesis, the kinematic coupling between the photon and the inflaton undergoes a nonanalytical jump at the end of inflation. Using smooth interpolating analytical forms of the coupling function, we show that such unphysical jump does not invalidate the main prediction of the model, which still represents a viable mechanism for explaining cosmic magnetization. Nevertheless, there is a spurious result associated with the nonanaliticity of the coupling, to wit, the prediction that the spectrum of created photons has a power-law decay in the ultraviolet regime. This issue is discussed using both semiclassical approximation and smooth coupling functions.