2007/10/31 by Evgeny I. Buchbinder, Justin Khoury, Burt A. Ovrut · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.171302
published as Phys.Rev.Lett.100:171302,2008 · 4 pages. v2: sign convention clarified, references added; v3: minor changes, version to appear in PRL
arxiv created 2008/04/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
New Ekpyrotic Cosmology is an alternative scenario of the early universe which relies on a phase of slow contraction before the big bang. We calculate the 3-point and 4-point correlation functions of primordial density perturbations and find a generically large non-Gaussian signal, just below the current sensitivity level of CMB experiments. This is in contrast with slow-roll inflation, which predicts negligible non-Gaussianity. The model is also distinguishable from alternative inflationary scenarios that yield large non-Gaussianity, such as DBI inflation and the simplest curvaton-like models, through the shape dependence of the correlation functions. Non-Gaussianity therefore provides a distinguishing and testable prediction of New Ekpyrotic Cosmology.