Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 312 2 iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Expand the quantized field using the normalized modeThe canonical commutation relation fixes the Wronskian . Writing , the primed correlators areEach unprimed expression includes . The imaginary part of the mixed correlator givesConsequently the classicality parameter of a cosmological perturbation isIt tends to zero on superhorizon scales, so the perturbation becomes effectively classical even while its amplitude grows as . In ordinary slow-roll inflation, instead freezes to a constant; its analogous normalized commutator also vanishes, but behaves as for the leading de Sitter mode rather than .