Testing cosmological models with large-scale power modulation using microwave background polarization observations
Author(s)
Bunn, Emory F.; Xue, Qingyang; Zheng, Haoxuan
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We examine the degree to which observations of large-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization can shed light on the puzzling large-scale power modulation in maps of CMB anisotropy. We consider a phenomenological model in which the observed anomaly is caused by modulation of large-scale primordial curvature perturbations and calculate Fisher information and error forecasts for future polarization data, constrained by the existing CMB anisotropy data. Because a significant fraction of the available information is contained in correlations with the anomalous temperature data, it is essential to account for these constraints. We also present a systematic approach to finding a set of normal modes that maximize the available information, generalizing the well-known Karhunen-Loève transformation to take account of the constraints from the temperature data. A polarization map covering at least ∼60% of the sky should be able to provide a 3σ detection of modulation at the level favored by the temperature data. A significant fraction of the information in such a data set is contained in the single mode that optimally encapsulates the signal due to temperature-polarization correlation.
Date issued
2016-11Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of PhysicsJournal
Physical Review D
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Bunn, Emory F., Qingyang Xue, and Haoxuan Zheng. “Testing Cosmological Models with Large-Scale Power Modulation Using Microwave Background Polarization Observations.” Physical Review D 94.10 (2016): n. pag. © 2016 American Physical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
2470-0010
2470-0029