Non-Gaussianity from resonant curvaton decay

We calculate curvature perturbations in the scenario in which the curvaton field decays into another scalar field via parametric resonance. As a result of a nonlinear stage at the end of the resonance, standard perturbative calculation techniques fail in this case. Instead, we use lattice field theory simulations and the separate universe approximation to calculate the curvature perturbation as a nonlinear function of the curvaton field. For the parameters tested, the generated perturbations are highly non-Gaussian and not well approximated by the usual fNL parameterisation. Resonant decay plays an important role in the curvaton scenario and can have a substantial effect on the resulting perturbations. PACS numbers: 98.80.Cq, 11.15.Kc