Reconstructing a general inflationary action

Abstract

If inflation is to be considered in an unbiased way, as possibly originating from one of a wide range of underlying theories, then observations need not be simply applied to reconstructing the inflaton potential, V(ϕ), or a specific kinetic term, as in DBI inflation, but rather to reconstruct the inflationary action in its entirety. We discuss the constraints that can be placed on a general single field action from measurements of the primordial scalar and tensor fluctuation power spectra and non-Gaussianities. We also present the flow equation formalism for reconstructing a general inflationary Lagrangian, L(X,ϕ), with X={1/2}\partial_μϕ\partial^μϕ, in a general gauge, that reduces to canonical and DBI inflation in the specific gauge \partial L/\partial X = c_s^{-1}.

16 pages, 1 figure, References added, typos corrected

References in corpus (7)

• Detection of primordial non-Gaussianity (fNL) in the WMAP 3-year data at above 99.5% confidence
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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Power-counting and the Validity of the Classical Approximation During Inflation
• Simple Bounds from the Perturbative Regime of Inflation
• Curvaton Dynamics and the Non-Linearity Parameters in Curvaton Model
• K-inflationary Power Spectra in the Uniform Approximation
• Constraints on Kinetically Modified Inflation from WMAP5
• N-vaton
• Cosmological constraints on general, single field inflation
• Gravitational Wave Constraints on Multi-Brane Inflation
• Reconstructing Single Field Inflationary Actions From CMBR Data