Inflation: Theory and Observations

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current theoretical and observational understanding of cosmic inflation, emphasizing primordial fluctuations and upcoming survey prospects to uncover fundamental physics of the early universe.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive survey of inflationary signatures and discusses how future observations could revolutionize our understanding of early universe physics.

Findings

Upcoming surveys will significantly improve detection sensitivity for inflationary signatures.

Future analysis techniques will enhance the ability to probe primordial gravitational waves and non-Gaussianity.

Potential for groundbreaking discoveries about cosmic acceleration and fundamental physics.

Abstract

Cosmic inflation provides a window to the highest energy densities accessible in nature, far beyond those achievable in any realistic terrestrial experiment. Theoretical insights into the inflationary era and its observational probes may therefore shed unique light on the physical laws underlying our universe. This white paper describes our current theoretical understanding of the inflationary era, with a focus on the statistical properties of primordial fluctuations. In particular, we survey observational targets for three important signatures of inflation: primordial gravitational waves, primordial non-Gaussianity and primordial features. With the requisite advancements in analysis techniques, the tremendous increase in the raw sensitivities of upcoming and planned surveys will translate to leaps in our understanding of the inflationary paradigm and could open new frontiers for cosmology and particle physics. The combination of future theoretical and observational developments therefore offer the potential for a dramatic discovery about the nature of cosmic acceleration in the very early universe and physics on the smallest scales.