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Soft-Pion Theorems for Large Scale Structure

Consistency relations -- which relate an N-point function to a squeezed (N+1)-point function -- are useful in large scale structure (LSS) because of their non-perturbative nature: they hold even if the N-point function is deep in the nonlinear regime, and even if they involve astrophysically messy galaxy observables. The non-perturbative nature of the consistency relations is guaranteed by the fact that they are symmetry statements, in which the velocity plays the role of the soft pion. In this paper, we address two issues: (1) how to derive the relations systematically using the residual coordinate freedom in the Newtonian gauge, and relate them to known results in $ζ$-gauge (often used in studies of inflation); (2) under what conditions the consistency relations are violated. In the non-relativistic limit, our derivation reproduces the Newtonian consistency relation discovered by Kehagias \& Riotto and Peloso & Pietroni. More generally, there is an infinite set of consistency relations, as is known in $ζ$-gauge. There is a one-to-one correspondence between symmetries in the two gauges; in particular, the Newtonian consistency relation follows from the dilation and special conformal symmetries in $ζ$-gauge. We probe the robustness of the consistency relations by studying models of galaxy dynamics and biasing. We give a systematic list of conditions under which the consistency relations are violated; violations occur if the galaxy bias is non-local in an infrared divergent way. We emphasize the relevance of the adiabatic mode condition, as distinct from symmetry considerations. As a by-product of our investigation, we discuss a simple fluid Lagrangian for LSS.