Chapter 6.

QUANTUM INITIAL CONDITIONS

Quantum fluctuations during inflation give rise to primordial perturbations.

The mechanism is the following:

The inflaton is a CLOCK measuring the time

to the END OF INFLATION

By the uncertainty principle,

precise timing is not possible.

Locally, inflation ends

at different times ...

... which induces curvature

perturbations after inflation.

LSS CMB
6.1 INFLATON FLUCTUATIONS: CLASSICAL

In spatially flat gauge, gij = −a2 δij , we can ignore metric fluctuations.

The field φ(η, x) then satisfies φ 00 + 2Hφ 0 − ∇2 φ = −a2 V,φ .

f (η, x)
Using φ(η, x) ≡ φ̄(η) + , we get
a(η)
00
 
a
f 00 − ∇2 + − a2 V,φφ f = 0 .
a

a 00
Note that = 2H2 (1 − ε) ≈ 2H2 > a2 V,φφ .
a ↑ ↑
slow-roll slow-roll

In the slow-roll regime, we therefore have

1
fk00 + k 2 − 2H2 fk = 0 ,


where H ≈ − (dS).
η
Mukhanov-Sasaki Equation

At early times, modes are deep inside the horizon (k  H) and satisfy

fk00 + k 2 fk ≈ 0 .
comoving = Collection of Harmonic Oscillators
scales

subhorizon superhorizon

time
horizon reheating horizon today
exit re-entry

Inflation Hot Big Bang

2
6.2 QUANTUM HARMONIC OSCILLATORS

Imminent q̈ + ω 2 q = 0 , ω 2 ≡ κ/m.

Canonical Quantization

• Step I: Quantum Operators

q, p −−−→ q̂, p̂ −−−→ [q̂, p̂] = i (I)

classical fields quantum operators canonical commutation relation

initial conditions
↓
• Step II: Mode Expansion q̂(t) = q(t) â + q ∗ (t) ↠(II)
↑
mode function
satisfies q̈ + ω 2 q = 0

• Step III: Normalization

Substituting (II) into (I), we get

[q̂, p̂] = (q q̇ ∗ − q̇q ∗ ) [â, ↠] = i .

| {z }
≡ iW [q]
creation operator
↓
Without loss of generality, we can set W [q] ≡ 1 , so that [ â , ↠] = 1 .
↑
annihilation operator

• Step IV: Vacuum state â|0i = 0

Note: we haven’t fixed q(t) completely, so â and |0i aren’t fixed either.

3
Choice of Vacuum

The preferred vacuum is the ground state of the Hamiltonian:

1 1
Consider Ĥ = p̂2 + ω 2 q̂ 2
2 2
1 2
(q̇ + ω 2 q 2 )ââ + (q̇ 2 + ω 2 q 2 )∗ ↠↠+ (|q̇|2 + ω 2 |q|2 )(â↠+ ↠â)

=
2
and act on |0i:
1 1
Ĥ|0i = (q̇ 2 + ω 2 q 2 )∗ ↠↠|0i + (|q̇|2 + ω 2 |q|2 )|0i .
|2 {z } 2
≡0
↓
q̇ = ±iωq → W [q] = ∓2ω|q|2

1
Since W = 1 > 0, we have q̇ = −iωq ⇒ q(t) = √ e−iωt .
2ω
positive frequency solution

Zero-Point Fluctuations
1
This implies hĤi ≡ h0|Ĥ|0i = ~ω ,
2

hq̂i ≡ h0|q̂|0i = h0|qâ + q ∗ ↠|0i = 0 ,

h|q̂|2 i ≡ h0|q̂ † q̂|0i

= h0|(q ∗ ↠+ qâ)(qâ + q ∗ ↠)|0i

= |q(t)|2 h0|â↠|0i

= |q(t)|2 h0|[â, ↠]|0i
= |q(t)|2 .

~
⇒ h|q̂|2 i = |q(t)|2 =
2ω

4
6.3 INFLATON FLUCTUATIONS: QUANTUM

Canonical Quantization
locality
• Step I: f, π ≡ f 0 −−−→ fˆ, π̂ −−−→ [fˆ(η, x), π̂(η, x0 )] = iδD (x − x0 )

[fˆk (η), π̂k0 (η)] = iδD (k + k0 ) (I)

initial conditions
↓
• Step II: fˆk (η) = fk (η) âk + fk∗ (η) â†k (II)
↑
mode function
satisfies fk00 + k 2 − 2H2 fk = 0

• Step III: Substituting (II) into (I), we get

W [fk ] × [âk , â†k0 ] = δD (k + k0 ) .

creation operator
↓
Setting W [fk ] ≡ 1 , we find [âk , â†k0 ] = δD (k + k0 ) .
↑
annihilation operator

• Step IV: âk |0i = 0 .

As before, we need to fix fk (η) to uniquely determine âk and |0i.

5
Choice of Vacuum

At early times (|kη|  1), modes satisfy

fk00 + k 2 fk ≈ 0 .
SHO in flat space

We therefore match to the preferred vacuum of the harmonic oscillator

1
lim fk (η) = √ e−ikη
η→−∞ 2k
Bunch-Davies initial condition

In dS, the unique mode function with BD initial conditions is

e−ikη
 
i
fk (η) = √ 1−
2k kη
Bunch-Davies mode function

Zero-Point Fluctuations

Finally, we can predict the quantum statistics of the operator

d3 k h
Z i
ˆ ∗ †
f (η, x) = 3/2
fk (η)âk + fk (η)ak eik·x .
(2π)
We can compute the variance:

h|fˆ|2 i ≡ h0|fˆ† (η, 0)fˆ(η, 0)|0i

d3 k d3 k 0
Z Z
∗ † ∗ †



= h0| f â
k k + f â
k k f 0
k k0â + f k k0 |0i
0 â
(2π)3/2 (2π)3/2
d3 k d3 k 0
Z Z
= 3/2 3/2
fk (η)fk∗0 (η) h0|[âk , â†k0 ]|0i
(2π) (2π)
d3 k
Z
= 3
|fk (η)|2
(2π)
k3
Z Z
2
= d ln k 2
|fk (η)| ≡ d ln k ∆2f (k, η) ,
2π

6
where we have defined the (dimensionless) power spectrum as

k3
∆2f (k, η) ≡ 2 |fk (η)|2 .
2π

Using the BD mode function and δφ = f /a, we get

 2  2 !  2
2 H k kH H
∆δφ (k, η) = 1+ −−−−→ .
2π H 2π

The power spectrum at horizon crossing, k = H = aH, is

 2
H
∆2δφ (k) ≈ .
2π
k=H

6.4 CURVATURE PERTURBATIONS

H
At k = H, we switch from δφ to R = δq (spatially flat gauge)
ρ̄ + P̄
H
= − 0 δφ (during inflation)
φ̄

1 ˙2
1 ∆2δφ 2 φ̄
Hence, we have ∆2R = , where ε≡ .
2ε Mpl2 Mpl2 H 2

Evaluating this at horizon crossing, we find

2
 ns −1 ← spectral index:
1 1H k ns = 0.96 ± 0.01
∆2R (k) = ≡ As
8π 2 ε Mpl2 k?
k=aH
↑
amplitude:
As = 2.2 × 10−9

7
Since H(t) and ε(t) depend on time, we expect a small scale-dependence:

d ln ∆2R d ln ∆2R d ln ∆2R d ln ∆2R

ns − 1 ≡ = ≈ =
d ln k d ln(aH) d ln a Hdt
ε̇
= −2ε − ≈ −6v + 2ηv .
Hε
In the slow-roll limit, we get a nearly scale-invariant spectrum, ns ≈ 1, as
required by CMB and LSS observations.

6.5 GRAVITATIONAL WAVES

A similar analysis for tensor metric perturbations

ds2 = a2 (η) dη 2 − (δij + 2hij )dxi dxj ,

 

nt
2 H2

k
gives ∆2h (k) = 2 2 ≡ At , with nt = −2ε.
π Mpl k?
k=aH

An important quantity is the tensor-to-scalar ratio

At
r≡ = 16ε ≈ 16v .
As

and a crucial plot is:

0.25

0.20 c
on
ca
con ve
vex
0.15

small-field
0.10 large-field

0.05
l
natura
0.00
0.94
0 94 0.96
0 96 0.98
0 98 1.00