Massive Galaxy Clusters Like El Gordo Hint at Primordial Quantum Diffusion

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It is generally assumed within the standard cosmological model that initial density perturbations are Gaussian at all scales. However, primordial quantum diffusion unavoidably generates non-Gaussian, exponential tails in the distribution of inflationary perturbations. These exponential tails have direct consequences for the formation of collapsed structures in the Universe, as has been studied in the context of primordial black holes. We show that these tails also affect the very-large-scale structures, making heavy clusters like "El Gordo," or large voids like the one associated with the cosmic microwave background cold spot, more probable. We compute the halo mass function and cluster abundance as a function of redshift in the presence of exponential tails. We find that quantum diffusion generically enlarges the number of heavy clusters and depletes subhalos, an effect that cannot be captured by the famed fNL corrections. These lateUniverse signatures could, thus, be fingerprints of quantum dynamics during inflation that should be incorporated in N-body simulations and checked against astrophysical data.

Original languageEnglish
Article number121003
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume130
Issue number12
Number of pages7
ISSN0031-9007
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Mar 2023

    Research areas

  • CATALOG, TELESCOPE, COSMOLOGY, DYNAMICS, MODEL

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