Non-Gaussianity from axionic curvaton

We study non-Gaussianity of density perturbations generated by an axionic curvaton, focusing on the case that the curvaton sits near the hilltop of the potential during inflation. Such hilltop curvatons can generate a red-tilted density perturbation spectrum without invoking large-field inflation. We show that, even when the curvaton dominates the Universe, the non-Gaussianity parameter f{sub NL} is positive and mildly increases towards the hilltop of the curvaton potential, and that f{sub NL} = O(10) is a general and robust prediction of such hilltop axionic curvatons. In particular, we find that the non-Gaussianity parameter is bounded as f{sub NL}∼<30–40 for a range of the scalar spectral index, n{sub s} = 0.94–0.99, and that f{sub NL} = 20–40 is realized for the curvaton mass m{sub σ} = 10–10{sup 6} GeV and the decay constant f = 10{sup 12}–10{sup 17} GeV. One of the plausible candidates for the axionic curvaton is an imaginary component of a modulus field with mass of order 10–100 TeV and decay constant of 10{sup 16–17}GeV. We also discuss extreme cases where the curvaton drives a second inflation and find that f{sub NL} is typically smaller compared to non-inflating cases.