Speaker
Description
The primordial universe may provide a window to the highest energy densities accessible in nature. The observational detection of primordial non-Gaussianity and/or primordial features would therefore shed unique light on the laws of physics at scales far beyond those of any terrestrial experiment. In this talk, I will show how current and future large-scale structure (LSS) surveys can place interesting constraints on the degrees of freedom and dynamics of cosmic inflation (and its alternatives). I will focus on inflationary imprints on LSS power spectra, in particular the scale-dependent bias induced by any primordial non-Gaussian signal in biased tracers and oscillations induced by primordial features. The emphasis will be on the scale-dependent bias beyond the local type, and how auto- and cross-correlations of several different LSS tracers will help us to constrain the underlying primordial physics. I will also explain where the constraining power comes from and present current constraints on these general signals. This talk will be mainly based on ongoing work with Daniel Green, Jiashu Han and Yi Guo.
