Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 55 2 b ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use exactly the stipulated unit-sound-speed mode functions for this integral. Their late-time values are real and . ConsequentlyThe vacuum contour lies above the negative real time axis, so decays at its past endpoint. With , repeated differentiation of givesSubstitution gives the bispectrum with consistent operator ordering and the stated Hamiltonian:The sign is positive in front of , contrary to the target's negative sign. The printed negative result is obtained algebraically if one uses the unstarred derivatives, , and the conjugate past contour, which gives , while retaining outside. That combination is not the stated vacuum contour or the stated external-before-vertex contraction. A consistently conjugated representation must also conjugate the external prefactor and has the positive result above. The unit-speed cubic time-derivative bispectrum records these conventions explicitly.
The approximation treats , and the interaction coefficients as constant, uses the de Sitter approximation, retains only the stipulated vertex at tree level, and takes after doing the convergent early-time integral. The prescription must be kept while imposing the past boundary condition; an arbitrary early-time cutoff leaves spurious oscillatory boundary terms. For a physical noncanonical quadratic action with , the mode functions also change to . They were not supplied here; the displayed calculation is conditional on the paper's specified modes, rather than a full self-consistent noncanonical power-spectrum calculation.
With the stipulated power spectrum , an equilateral bispectrum configuration gives . For the local-style normalization evaluated only at that triangle, , this meansThis is a normalization convention for an equilateral amplitude, not a claim that the shape is local. In a squeezed bispectrum configuration, the ratio to the long-short power product is suppressed by . Small sound speed or large higher-kinetic derivatives can make large enough for potentially observable primordial non-Gaussianity, whereas with finite suppresses this vertex. Detectability is conditional on amplitudes, the other cubic interactions, and perturbative control; it cannot be asserted from the given constants alone.