Curvaton

The curvaton is a hypothetical elementary particle which mediates a scalar field in early universe cosmology. It can generate fluctuations during inflation, but does not itself drive inflation, instead it generates curvature perturbations at late times after the inflaton field has decayed and the decay products have redshifted away, when the curvaton is the dominant component of the energy density. It is used to generate a flat spectrum of CMB perturbations in models of inflation where the potential is otherwise too steep or in alternatives to inflation like the pre-Big Bang scenario.

The model was proposed almost simultaneously in 2001 by three independent groups: Kari Enqvist and Martin S. Sloth,[1] David Wands and David H. Lyth,[2] Takeo Moroi and Tomo Takahashi.[3]
See also

Metric expansion of space
Hubble's law
Big Bang
Cosmological constant
Inflaton
Cosmological perturbation theory
Structure formation
Kari Enqvist
David Wands
David H. Lyth

Notes

Enqvist & Sloth (2002). "Adiabatic CMB perturbations in pre-Big Bang string cosmology". Nuclear Physics B. 626 (1–2): 395–409.arXiv:hep-ph/0109214. Bibcode:2002NuPhB.626..395E. doi:10.1016/S0550-3213(02)00043-3. S2CID 9320517.
Lyth & Wands (2002). "Generating the curvature perturbation without an inflaton". Physics Letters B. 524 (1–2): 5–14.arXiv:hep-ph/0110002. Bibcode:2002PhLB..524....5L. doi:10.1016/S0370-2693(01)01366-1. S2CID 119499489.

Moroi & Takahashi (2001). "Effects of Cosmological Moduli Fields on Cosmic Microwave Background". Physics Letters B. 522 (3–4): 215–221.arXiv:hep-ph/0110096. Bibcode:2001PhLB..522..215M. doi:10.1016/S0370-2693(01)01295-3. S2CID 6685102.

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Particles in physics
Elementary
Fermions
Quarks

Up (quark antiquark) Down (quark antiquark) Charm (quark antiquark) Strange (quark antiquark) Top (quark antiquark) Bottom (quark antiquark)

Leptons

Electron Positron Muon Antimuon Tau Antitau Electron neutrino Electron antineutrino Muon neutrino Muon antineutrino Tau neutrino Tau antineutrino

Bosons
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Photon Gluon W and Z bosons

Scalar

Higgs boson

Ghost fields

Faddeev–Popov ghosts

Hypothetical
Superpartners
Gauginos