Testing cosmological models with large-scale power modulation using microwave background polarization observations
Name
PhysRevD.94.103512.pdf
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402.65 KB
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Adobe PDF
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897b85e5339a813a2c71f27684160e29
Author(s)
Bunn, Emory F.
Xue, Qingyang
Zheng, Haoxuan
Date Issued
November 2016
Journal
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
Abstract
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.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.94.103512
