Inflationary trispectrum from graviton exchange

Abstract

We compute the connected four-point correlation function of the primordial curvature perturbation generated during inflation with standard kinetic terms, where the correlation is established via exchange of a graviton between two pairs of scalar fluctuations. Any such correlation yields a contribution to the scalar trispectrum of the order of the tensor to scalar ratio r. This contribution is numerically one order of magnitude larger than the one previously calculated on the basis of scalar perturbations interacting at a point and satisfies a simple relation in the limit where the momentum of the graviton which is exchanged becomes much smaller than the external momenta. We conclude that the total non-linearity parameter generated by single-field models of slow-roll inflation is at maximum tauNL ~ r.

23 pages, 2 figures. Uses iopart.sty and feynmp.sty. v2: Bibliography updated, no change to text. v3: Updated to match version published in JCAP, with one extra sign error corrected in the Appendix

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• On the primordial correlation of gravitons with gauge fields
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