The large-scale correlations that we observe in the distribution of matter in the universe have their origins in primordial perturbations produced prior to the hot big bang—likely during a period of inflationary expansion. Interestingly we do not directly observe the inflationary epoch, but instead infer its dynamics from correlations residing on the late time boundary of the inflationary spacetime where the universe reheats. This motivates us to ask whether we can understand things directly on this asymptotic boundary, without making explicit reference to spacetime. I will describe how bulk time evolution can be traded for a boundary flow through a suitably defined space of functions, and how the differential equations that describe this flow reflect features of the bulk time evolution that gives rise to cosmological correlations.
Host: Yuan Xin (yuan.xin@yale.edu)