Curvaton and the inhomogeneous end of inflation

Abstract

We study the primordial density perturbations and non-Gaussianities generated from the combined effects of an inhomogeneous end of inflation and curvaton decay in hybrid inflation. This dual role is played by a single isocurvature field which is massless during inflation but acquire a mass at the end of inflation via the waterfall phase transition. We calculate the resulting primordial non-Gaussianity characterized by the non-linearity parameter, $f_{NL}$, recovering the usual end-of-inflation result when the field decays promptly and the usual curvaton result if the field decays sufficiently late.