Speaker
David Wands
Description
Stochastic inflation offers a non-perturbative framework with which to calculate the distribution of density perturbations and in particular large, but rare fluctuations in the non-Gaussian tail of the distribution that could give rise to primordial black holes. Strongly enhanced density perturbations from single-field inflation require deviations from slow roll, and there are a number of challenges, and conflicting claims, when applying the stochastic formalism beyond the familiar slow roll setting. I will discuss issues including modelling non-adiabatic perturbations on super-Hubble scales and the compare the classical and stochastic delta-N formalisms used to calculate density perturbations.
