Papers by Sebastien Clesse
Physical Review D, 2015
In this paper we present a new scenario where massive Primordial Black Holes (PBH) are produced f... more In this paper we present a new scenario where massive Primordial Black Holes (PBH) are produced from the collapse of large curvature perturbations generated during a mild waterfall phase of hybrid inflation. We determine the values of the inflaton potential parameters leading to a PBH mass spectrum peaking on planetary-like masses at matter-radiation equality and producing abundances comparable to those of Dark Matter today, while the matter power spectrum on scales probed by CMB anisotropies agrees with Planck data. These PBH could have acquired large stellar masses today, via merging, and the model passes both the constraints from CMB distortions and microlensing. This scenario is supported by Chandra observations of numerous BH candidates in the central region of Andromeda. Moreover, the tail of the PBH mass distribution could be responsible for the seeds of supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, as well as for ultra-luminous X-rays sources. We find that our effective hybrid potential can originate e.g. from D-term inflation with a Fayet-Iliopoulos term of the order of the Planck scale but sub-planckian values of the inflaton field. Finally, we discuss the implications of quantum diffusion at the instability point of the potential, able to generate a swiss-cheese like structure of the Universe, eventually leading to apparent accelerated cosmic expansion.
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014
Prior to recombination, Silk damping causes the dissipation of energy from acoustic waves into th... more Prior to recombination, Silk damping causes the dissipation of energy from acoustic waves into the monopole of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting in spectral distortions. These can be used to probe the primordial scalar power spectrum on smaller scales than it is possible with CMB anisotropies. An enhancement of power on these scales is nevertheless required for the resulting distortions to be detectable by future experiments like PIXIE. In this paper, we examine all 49 single-field inflation models listed by Martin et al. in the Encyclopaedia Inflationaris [1] and find that only one of these may lead to a detectable level of distortions in a tuned region of its parameter space, namely the original hybrid model. Three effective multi-field scenarios are also studied: with softly and suddenly turning trajectories, and with a mild waterfall trajectory. Softly turning trajectories do not induce distortions at any detectable level, whereas a sudden turn in the field space or a mild waterfall trajectory predicts a peak (plus damped oscillations in the sudden turn case) in the scalar power spectrum, which can lead to an observable amount of CMB distortions. Finally, another scenario leading to potentially detectable distortions involves a curvaton whose blue spectrum is subdominant on CMB angular scales and overtakes the inflaton spectrum on smaller scales. In this case however, we show that the bounds from ultra compact minihaloes are not satisfied. Expectations for an ultimate PRISM-class experiment characterized by an improvement in sensitivity by a factor of ten are discussed for some models. PACS numbers: 98.80.Cq
Physical Review D, 2015
We present a comprehensive derivation of linear perturbation equations for different matter speci... more We present a comprehensive derivation of linear perturbation equations for different matter species, including photons, baryons, cold dark matter, scalar fields, massless and massive neutrinos, in the presence of a generic conformal coupling. Starting from the Lagrangians, we show how the conformal transformation affects the dynamics. In particular, we discuss how to incorporate consistently the scalar coupling in the equations of the Boltzmann hierarchy for massive neutrinos and the subsequent fluid approximations. We use the recently proposed K-mouflage model as an example to demonstrate the numerical implementation of our linear perturbation equations. K-mouflage is a new mechanism to suppress the fifth force between matter particles induced by the scalar coupling, but in the linear regime the fifth force is unsuppressed and can change the clustering of different matter species in different ways. We show how the CMB, lensing potential and matter power spectra are affected by the fifth force, and find ranges of K-mouflage parameters whose effects could be seen observationally. We also find that the scalar coupling can have the nontrivial effect of shifting the amplitude of the power spectra of the lensing potential and density fluctuations in opposite directions, although both probe the overall clustering of matter. This paper can serve as a reference for those who work on generic coupled scalar field cosmology, or those who are interested in the cosmological behaviour of the K-mouflage model. Therefore, if we assume, rather reasonably, that in the Jordan frame the bare mass of the fermionic particle,m, is a constant,
Physical Review D, 2015
We show that Solar System tests can place very strong constraints on K-mouflage models of gravity... more We show that Solar System tests can place very strong constraints on K-mouflage models of gravity, which are coupled scalar field models with nontrivial kinetic terms that screen the fifth force in regions of large gravitational acceleration. In particular, the bounds on the anomalous perihelion of the Moon imposes stringent restrictions on the K-mouflage Lagrangian density, which can be met when the contributions of higher order operators in the static regime are sufficiently small. The bound on the rate of change of the gravitational strength in the Solar System constrains the coupling strength β to be smaller than 0.1. These two bounds impose tighter constraints than the results from the Cassini satellite and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. Despite the Solar System restrictions, we show that it is possible to construct viable models with interesting cosmological predictions. In particular, relative to Λ-CDM, such models predict percent level deviations for the clustering of matter and the number density of dark matter haloes. This makes these models predictive and testable by forthcoming observational missions.
Physical Review D, 2014
We revisit the status of hybrid inflation in the light of Planck and recent BICEP2 results, takin... more We revisit the status of hybrid inflation in the light of Planck and recent BICEP2 results, taking care of possible transient violations of the slow-roll conditions as the field passes from the large field to the vacuum dominated phase. The usual regime where observable scales exit the Hubble radius in the vacuum dominated phase predicts a blue scalar spectrum, which is ruled out. But whereas assuming slow-roll one expects this regime to be generic, by solving the exact dynamics we identify the parameter space for which the small field phase is naturally avoided due to slow-roll violations at the end of the large field phase. When the number of e-folds generated at small field is negligible, the model predictions are degenerated with those of a quadratic potential. There exists also a transitory case for which the small field phase is sufficiently long to affect importantly the observable predictions. Interestingly, in this case the spectral index and the tensor to scalar ratio agree respectively with the best fit of Planck and BICEP2. This results in a ∆χ 2 ≃ 5.0 in favor of hybrid inflation for Planck+BICEP2 (∆χ 2 ≃ 0.9 for Planck only). The last considered regime is when the critical point at which inflation ends is located in the large field phase. It is constrained to be lower than about ten times the reduced Planck mass. The analysis has been conducted with the use of Markov-Chain-Monte-Carlo bayesian method, in a reheating consistent way, and we present the posterior probability distributions for all the model parameters.
In order to generate more than 60 e-folds of accelerated expansion in original hybrid inflation, ... more In order to generate more than 60 e-folds of accelerated expansion in original hybrid inflation, 2-fields trajectories are usually required to be initially fine-tuned in a very narrow band along the inflationary valley or in some isolated points outside it. From a more precise investigation of the dynamics, these points which can cover a non-negligible proportion of the space of sub-planckian initial field values, depending on the potential parameters, are shown to be organised in connected domains with fractal boundaries. They correspond to trajectories first falling towards the bottom of the potential, then climbing and slow-rolling back along the inflationary valley. The full parameter space, including initial velocities and all the potential parameters, is then explored by using Monte-Carlo-Markov-Chains (MCMC) methods. Results indicate that successful initial conditions (IC) outside the valley are not localized in the parameter space and are the dominant way to realise inflation, independently of initial field velocities. Natural bounds on parameters are deduced. The genericity of our results is confirmed in 5 other hybrid models from various framework.
Physical Review D, 2009
We show that the initial field values required to produce inflation in the two fields original hy... more We show that the initial field values required to produce inflation in the two fields original hybrid model, and its supergravity F-term extension, do not suffer from any fine-tuning problem, even when the fields are restricted to be sub-planckian and for almost all potential parameter values. This is due to the existence of an initial slow-roll violating evolution which has been overlooked so far. Due to the attractor nature of the inflationary valley, these trajectories end up producing enough accelerated expansion of the universe. By numerically solving the full non-linear dynamics, we show that the set of such successful initial field values is connected, of dimension two and possesses a fractal boundary of infinite length exploring the whole field space. We then perform a Monte-Carlo-Markov-Chain analysis of the whole parameter space consisting of the initial field values, field velocities and potential parameters. We give the marginalised posterior probability distributions for each of these quantities such that the universe inflates long enough to solve the usual cosmological problems. Inflation in the original hybrid model and its supergravity version appears to be generic and more probable by starting outside of the inflationary valley. Finally, the implication of our findings in the context of the eternal inflationary scenario are discussed.
Physical Review D, 2009
Hybrid inflation faces two well-known problems: the blue spectrum of the non-supersymmetric versi... more Hybrid inflation faces two well-known problems: the blue spectrum of the non-supersymmetric version of the model and the fine-tuning of the initial conditions of the fields leading to sufficient inflation to account for the standard cosmological problems. They are investigated by studying the exact two-fields dynamics instead of assuming slow-roll. When the field values are restricted to be less than the reduced Planck mass, a non-negligible part of the initial condition space (around 15% depending on potential parameters) leads to successful inflation. Most of it is located outside the usual inflationary valley and organized in continuous patterns instead of being isolated as previously found. Their existence is explained and their properties are studied. This shows that no excessive fine-tuning is required for successful hybrid inflation. Moreover, by extending the initial condition space to planckian-like or super-planckian values, inflation becomes generically sufficiently long and can produce a red-tilted scalar power spectrum due to slow-roll violations. The robustness of these properties is confirmed by conducting our analysis on three other models of hybrid-type inflation in various framework: "smooth" and "shifted" inflation in SUSY and SUGRA, and "radion assisted" gauge inflation. A high percentage of successful inflation for smooth hybrid inflation (up to 80%) is observed.
Physical Review D, 2012
It has recently been pointed out that a substantial amount of e-folds can occur during the waterf... more It has recently been pointed out that a substantial amount of e-folds can occur during the waterfall regime of hybrid inflation. Moreover, Kodama et.al. have derived analytic approximations for the trajectories of the inflaton and of the waterfall fields. Based on these, we derive here the consequences for F -and D-term SUSY hybrid inflation: A substantial amount of e-folds may occur in the waterfall regime, provided κ ≪ M 2 /M 2 P , where κ is the superpotential coupling, M the scale of symmetry breaking and MP the reduced Planck mass. When this condition is amply fulfilled, a number of e-folds much larger than Ne ≈ 60 can occur in the waterfall regime and the scalar spectral index is then given by the expression found by Kodama et.al. ns = 1−4/Ne. This value may be increased up to unity, if only about Ne e-folds occur during the waterfall regime, such that the largest observable scale leaves the horizon close to the critical point of hybrid inflation, what can be achieved for κ ≈ 10 −13 and M ≈ 5 × 10 12 GeV in F -term inflation. Imposing the normalization of the power spectrum leads to a lower bound on the scale of symmetry breaking.
Physical Review D, 2014
For the original hybrid inflation as well as the supersymmetric F-term and D-term hybrid models, ... more For the original hybrid inflation as well as the supersymmetric F-term and D-term hybrid models, we calculate the level of non-gaussianities and the power spectrum of curvature perturbations generated during the waterfall, taking into account the contribution of entropic modes. We focus on the regime of mild waterfall, in which inflation continues for more than about 60 e-folds N during the waterfall. We find that the associated fNL parameter goes typically from fNL ≃ −1/Nexit in the regime with N ≫ 60, where Nexit is the number of e-folds between the time of Hubble exit of a pivot scale and the end of inflation, down to fNL ∼ −0.3 when N > ∼ 60, i.e. much smaller in magnitude than the current bound from Planck. Considering only the adiabatic perturbations, the power spectrum is red, with a spectral index ns = 1 − 4/Nexit in the case N ≫ 60, whereas in the case N > ∼ 60 it increases up to unity. Including the contribution of entropic modes does not change observable predictions in the first case and the spectral index is too low for this regime to be viable. In the second case, entropic modes are a relevant source for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations, of which the amplitude increases by several orders of magnitudes. When spectral index values are consistent with observational constraints, the primordial spectrum amplitude is much larger than the observed value, and can even lead to black hole formation. We conclude that due to the important contribution of entropic modes, the parameter space leading to a mild waterfall phase is excluded by CMB observations for all the considered models.
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2011
We study a cosmological scenario in which inflation is preceded by a bounce. In this scenario, th... more We study a cosmological scenario in which inflation is preceded by a bounce. In this scenario, the primordial singularity, one of the major shortcomings of inflation, is replaced by a non-singular bounce, prior to which the universe undergoes a phase of contraction. Our starting point is the bouncing cosmology investigated in , which we complete by a detailed study of the transfer of cosmological perturbations through the bounce and a discussion of possible observational effects of bouncing cosmologies. We focus on a symmetric bounce and compute the evolution of cosmological perturbations during the contracting, bouncing and inflationary phases. We derive an expression for the Mukhanov-Sasaki perturbation variable at the onset of the inflationary phase that follows the bounce. Rather than being in the Bunch-Davies vacuum, it is found to be in an excited state that depends on the time scale of the bounce. We then show that this induces oscillations superimposed on the nearly scale-invariant primordial spectra for scalar and tensor perturbations. We discuss the effects of these oscillations in the cosmic microwave background and in the matter power spectrum. We propose a new way to indirectly measure the spatial curvature energy density parameter Ω K in the context of this model.
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2013
Scalar modifications of gravity have an impact on the growth of structure. Baryon and Cold Dark M... more Scalar modifications of gravity have an impact on the growth of structure. Baryon and Cold Dark Matter (CDM) perturbations grow anomalously for scales within the Compton wavelength of the scalar field. In the late time Universe when reionisation occurs, the spectrum of the 21cm brightness temperature is thus affected. We study this effect for chameleon-f(R) models, dilatons and symmetrons. Although the f (R) models are more tightly constrained by solar system bounds, and effects on dilaton models are negligible, we find that symmetrons where the phase transition occurs before z⋆ ∼ 12 will be detectable for a scalar field range as low as 5 kpc. For all these models, the detection prospects of modified gravity effects are higher when considering modes parallel to the line of sight where very small scales can be probed. The study of the 21 cm spectrum thus offers a complementary approach to testing modified gravity with large scale structure surveys. Short scales, which would be highly non-linear in the very late time Universe when structure forms and where modified gravity effects are screened, appear in the linear spectrum of 21 cm physics, hence deviating from General Relativity in a maximal way.
Physical Review D, 2014
We study the effects of modifications of gravity after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) which would... more We study the effects of modifications of gravity after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) which would manifest themselves mainly before recombination. We consider their effects on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation and on the formation of large scale structure. The models that we introduce here represent all screened modifications of General Relativity (GR) which evade the local tests of gravity such as the violation of the strong equivalence principle as constrained by the Lunar Ranging experiment. We use the tomographic description of modified gravity which defines models with screening mechanisms of the chameleon or Damour-Polyakov types and allows one to relate the temporal evolution of the mass and the coupling to matter of a scalar field to its Lagrangian and also to cosmological perturbations. The models with early modifications of gravity all involve a coupling to matter which is stronger in the past leading to effects on perturbations before recombination while minimising deviations from ΛCDM structure formation at late times. We find that a new family of early transition models lead to discrepancies in the CMB spectrum which could reach a few percent and appear as both enhancements and reductions of power for different scales.
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Papers by Sebastien Clesse