The four-point correlation function of graviton during inflation

Abstract

We expand the Einstein-Hilbert action with a positive cosmological constant up to the fourth order in terms of gravity fluctuations, and then use the in-in formalism to calculate the four-point correlation function for gravitational waves, including both contact and exchange diagrams, generated during a period of exactly de Sitter expansion. In addition, we also present the general properties of the $n$-point function of graviton in terms of both circularly and linearly polarized states.

21 pages, 7 figures; v2: minor revised, version accepted for publication in JHEP