Testing cosmological models with large-scale power modulation using microwave background polarization observations

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.