Abstract |
Primordial black holes are a dark matter candidate, which may originate from
strong perturbations created during inflation. These perturbations can be
studied using the formalism of stochastic inflation. I present a numerical
approach to this problem, where the stochastic dynamics is solved by
generating a large number of random realizations. This makes it possible to go
beyond analytical approximations and take into account additional effects such
as backreaction between the perturbations and the background. I show that in
an example model with an inflection point potential and ultra-slow-roll
inflation, compatible with CMB measurements, stochastic effects produce a
highly non-Gaussian tail for the perturbations, which changes the predictions
for black hole production significantly. |