2025/06/13 by Caravano, Angelo, Franciolini, Gabriele, Renaux-Petel, Sébastien · 9 citations
#Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2506.11795
Building on the recent lattice simulations of ultra-slow-roll (USR) dynamics presented in arXiv:2410.23942, we investigate the role of the nonlinear relation between the inflaton field configuration and the curvature perturbation ζ, the key observable after inflation. Using a nonperturbative δN approach applied to the lattice output, we generate fully nonlinear three-dimensional maps of ζ. This calculation captures both the non-Gaussianity arising from the nonlinear mapping between ϕ and ζ, and the intrinsic non-Gaussianity generated around Hubble crossing by the nonlinear field dynamics, which is neglected in stochastic approaches. We find that the nonlinear mapping has a profound impact on the statistics, significantly enhancing the positive tail of the ζ probability distribution, with important implications for observable quantities. A central part of this work is the comparison with the standard perturbative treatment based on a gauge transformation, which allows us to quantify when and how the perturbative picture breaks down as fluctuations grow large. Together with arXiv:2410.23942, this work sets the basis for robust, nonperturbative predictions of primordial black hole production and scalar-induced gravitational wave emission from inflation using lattice simulations.