Precision of inflaton potential reconstruction from CMB using the general slow-roll approximation

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.72.023510
• Publication Date: 2005-07-12T22:38:14Z
• Authors: Kenji Kadota; Scott Dodelson; Wayne Hu; Ewan D. Stewart
• Keywords: General Physics Astrophysics; High Energy Physics - Phenomenology; High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph); Astrophysics (astro-ph); 0103 physical sciences; FOS: Physical sciences; 71 Classical And Quantum Mechanics; Astrophysics; 01 natural sciences

Through a principal component analysis, we study how accurately CMB observables can constrain inflaton potentials in a model independent manner. We apply the general slow-roll approximation in our analysis where we allow, in contrast to the standard slow-roll approximation, the possibility of variations in $V''(��)$ and take into account the fact that horizon crossing is not an instantaneous event. Our analysis provides a set of modes to be used in fitting observables. We find that of order five of these modes will be constrained by future observations, so a fully general data analysis package could use the amplitudes of just a handful of modes as free parameters and retain all relevant information in the data.