Stochastic inflation as an open quantum system II: open effective field theory and stochastic matching

TL;DR

This paper develops an open quantum system approach to stochastic inflation, constructing an effective field theory that includes nonlocal, non-Markovian effects and deriving associated master equations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel open effective field theory for stochastic inflation, incorporating stochastic and Wilsonian RG flows, and derives nonlocal master equations for the reduced density matrix.

Findings

Identifies Gaussian and non-Gaussian diffusion as effective operators.

Derives nonlocal Wilson kernels for non-Gaussian matching.

Demonstrates stochastic renormalization with a massive scalar example.

Abstract

We further develop the proposal in Phys.\ Rev.\ Lett.\ \textbf{136} 071501 that interprets stochastic inflation as an open quantum system, by constructing the open effective field theory for the reduced density matrix of long wavelength modes. We clarify that this open effective field theory enjoys two renormalization group flows: the conventional Wilsonian channel, and a stochastic channel arising from the openness that has no counterpart in ordinary Wilsonian effective field theory. Focusing on the stochastic channel in the hard cutoff scheme, we identify both Gaussian and non-Gaussian diffusion as effective operators in the influence functional, and show that they are required by matching onto correlators and form factors of the perturbative full theory through a method-of-region in time. Beyond Gaussian order, the matching data are no longer local Wilson coefficients but nonlocal and non-Markovian Wilson kernels. We then obtain the bare Hamiltonian density of this open effective field theory and derive its nonlocal functional master equations, including the Fokker-Planck equation for the diagonal density matrix and the Klein-Kramers equation for the Wigner functional, with their zero-modess simplifications discussed. Finally, we take a first step toward a continuum version of this open effective field theory, replacing the hard cutoff by an analytic regulator in the stochastic channel, and demonstrate stochastic renormalization using a massive scalar as an example.