Nongaussianity and features in the CMB

by James Cline (Mc Gill Univ.)

Wednesday 12 Mar 2008, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Zurich

TH Theory Conference Room (CERN)

I will focus on nonlocal models of inflation, exemplified by p-adic string theory, which have novel features including H exceeding the string scale, slow roll despite a steep potential, and observably large nongaussianity. In passing I will mention other recent results: evidence for a bump in the CMB at l ~ 500, and how double hybrid inflation could explain it; the possibility of observing modifications to the Friedmann equation from inflation in a 6D braneworld through breaking the tensor-to-scalar consistency relation.