Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 53 1 b ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let and . For the unconjugated integrand on the lower contour, the De Sitter curvature mode functions giveHere the two derivative factors supply , cancelling . The vacuum prescription for inflationary in-in integrals can be implemented by a factor on the real negative axis, with , followed by . In this notationThereforeAn undamped boundary evaluation on the real axis at is not valid. On the upper contour the complex-conjugate integrand instead yields the conjugate value. Conjugating the modes without conjugating the contour would produce exponential growth.
Using all six connected Wick contractions from the preceding part and gives the literal-Hamiltonian resultThe connected correlator is . The three assignments constitute the curvature bispectrum from a zeta zeta-prime-squared interaction. The numerator contains six powers of from the six modes, two of which are cancelled by ; the six powers of remain unless the vertex supplies two.
Consequently the printed final expression, with , is obtained for . With the literal printed Hamiltonian , the answer instead has . The Planck normalization of a cubic curvature interaction requires a factor in the Hamiltonian if its final bispectrum is intended. In addition, integrating the intermediate expression literally with only three assignments gives half the fully contracted amplitude. These are normalization defects, rather than changes in the momentum shape. For dimensionless comoving curvature perturbations, the usual interaction normalization is also required by the mass dimension of the action.
For the standard normalization, , so is of order . This slow-roll suppression means that the primordial non-Gaussianity from this interaction alone is not expected to be detectably large. For example, in the squeezed bispectrum configuration , matching this contribution to the local convention gives . This is a single-vertex contribution, not the complete single-field slow-roll inflation prediction; other vertices and field redefinitions contribute at the same slow-roll order. A claim of detectability for enhanced interactions requires a model beyond this approximation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 53 1 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a centered Gaussian random field, Wick's theorem says that every odd moment vanishes and every even moment is the sum over all pairings of products of two-point functions. For six fields there are pairings. In the connected three-point function at nonzero external momenta, each of the three external fields must pair with a distinct field at the cubic interaction. There are such Wick contractions. Choosing the undifferentiated field gives three possibilities; interchanging the two differentiated fields gives a further factor of two. The remaining nine pairings involve an external-external pair and an internal pair and belong to tadpole/disconnected contributions. Define the background so the one-point function vanishes, or equivalently subtract these contributions.
It is useful to keep a coefficient multiplying the cubic Hamiltonian: its literal printed value is , whereas the standard dimensionally normalized curvature interaction has . This distinction will matter for the final amplitude. Withand , , the interaction entering the time integral isIn the interaction picture, the unequal-time vacuum contraction required by the in-in formalism isFor a differentiated internal field replace by . The equal-time power spectrum fixes its magnitude; the displayed free De Sitter curvature mode functions and vacuum choice fix its unequal-time phase.
Performing the three momentum integrations imposes for each assignment and leaves one overall momentum delta function. Put , which is real here, and defineThe upper early-time contour runs from to , with . The Hamiltonian's minus sign and the six connected Wick contractions then giveThis is equivalently with unconjugated De Sitter curvature mode functions and the conjugate lower contour . Before momentum integration, the same result consists of the three cyclic delta assignments, each with the extra factor of two for the identical differentiated legs.
The PDF's intermediate formula writes only three cyclic assignments without that factor of two. Taken literally it undercounts the connected contractions. Its unconjugated modes must also use the conjugate contour, rather than the upper contour of the original in-in expression. Both points are required for a consistent in-in bispectrum conjugation rule.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 312 4 b ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write , so . For the cyclic term with the first field undifferentiated, insertion into the in-in formalism giveswhere . The two differentiated modes contribute , cancelling the in .
Along the vacuum-selected contour, the lower boundary vanishes. The elementary integrals areand thereforeMultiplying by , taking the real part and summing the three cyclic choices gives the curvature bispectrum from a zeta zeta-prime-squared interaction:This matches the final normalization. The coefficient requires all six connected Wick contractions.
The calculation assumes the Gaussian Bunch-Davies vacuum, tree order in the specified cubic interaction, effectively constant and during the integral, the approximate de Sitter scale factor, and observation after the modes freeze as . The contour tilt is kept until the early boundary has been eliminated; an undamped real-axis integral cannot simply discard that boundary. The reduced Planck mass convention is the one in the supplied De Sitter curvature mode function. Other cubic interactions and nonlinear field redefinitions are outside the specified model, so this is not by itself the complete bispectrum of a general single-field action.
The comoving curvature perturbation is dimensionless. With spatial coordinates and time carrying inverse mass dimensions, the cubic interaction needs a mass-squared coefficient. Its standard gravitational normalization is . Six De Sitter curvature mode functions supply ; this vertex then supplies , leaving the physical curvature primordial bispectrum. The Wick-pairing multiplicity for a zeta zeta-prime-squared vertex is independently six: three choices of undifferentiated external leg times two differentiated-leg assignments.