Translational Invariance and the Anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Nov, 2008
13 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 81 (2010) 083501
e-Print:
Report number:
  • CALT-68-2705

Citations per year

200820122016202020240246810
Abstract: (arXiv)
Primordial quantum fluctuations produced by inflation are conventionally assumed to be statistically homogeneous, a consequence of translational invariance. In this paper we quantify the potentially observable effects of a small violation of translational invariance during inflation, as characterized by the presence of a preferred point, line, or plane. We explore the imprint such a violation would leave on the cosmic microwave background anisotropy, and provide explicit formulas for the expected amplitudes <almalm><a_{lm}a_{l'm'}^*> of the spherical-harmonic coefficients.
  • 98.80.Cq
  • inflation
  • cosmic background radiation: anisotropy
  • fluctuation: quantum
  • invariance: translation
  • correlation function