Speaker
Andrew Gow
(Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth)
Description
The stochastic formalism of inflation allows the statistics of the curvature perturbation to be determined in a non-perturbative way, by reframing the quantum fluctuations during inflation as classical stochastic fluctuations. This is most important for the calculation of non-Gaussianity in the far tail of the perturbation probability distributions, where rare objects such as primordial black holes (PBHs) form. However, to determine the formation of PBHs of a certain size, it is necessary to find the PDF of the curvature perturbation coarse-grained on a particular scale. I will discuss the practical challenges involved with determining this PDF even for simple inflation models, utlising both analytical and numerical results.
Author
Andrew Gow
(Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth)
