Large primordial trispectra in general single field inflation

Abstract

We compute the large scalar four-point correlation functionsin general single field inflation models, where the inflatonLagrangian is anarbitrary function of the inflaton and its first derivative.We find that theleading order trispectra have four different shapes determined bythree parameters. We study features in these shapes that can be used todistinguish among themselves, and between them and the trispectra of the local form. For thepurpose of data analyses, we give two simple representative formsfor these ``equilateral trispectra''. Wealso study the effects on the trispectra if the initial state of inflationdeviates from the standard Bunch-Daviesvacuum.