Renormalized one-Loop Corrections in Power Spectrum in USR Inflation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the one-loop quantum corrections to the power spectrum during ultra-slow-roll inflation, showing that these corrections can become large and challenge the validity of certain inflationary models for primordial black hole formation.

Contribution

It provides a detailed regularization and renormalization of one-loop corrections in USR inflation, confirming their potential to be non-perturbatively large with sharp transitions.

Findings

Loop corrections scale as e^{6 ΔN} at the USR phase end.

Sharp USR-to-slow-roll transitions can make loop corrections non-perturbatively large.

Regularization confirms the potential breakdown of perturbation theory in certain inflation models.

Abstract

The nature of one-loop corrections to long-wavelength CMB-scale modes in single-field inflation models with an intermediate USR phase remains a subject of active debate. In this work, we perform a detailed investigation into the regularization and renormalization of these one-loop corrections to the curvature perturbation power spectrum. Employing a combined UV-IR regularization scheme within the in-in formalism, we compute the regularized one-loop contributions, including those from the tadpole diagram, arising from both the cubic and quartic interaction Hamiltonians. We demonstrate that the fully regularized and renormalized fractional loop correction to the power spectrum is controlled by its peak value at the end of the USR phase, scaling as $\mathcal{P}_\mathrm{peak} \sim e^{6 \Delta N}$, where $\Delta N$ is the duration of the USR phase. This result confirms the original conclusion that loop corrections can become non-perturbatively large if the transition from the USR phase to the final slow-roll phase is instantaneous and sharp, potentially challenging the validity of such inflationary scenarios for primordial black hole formation.