CMBPol Mission Concept Study: Probing Inflation with CMB Polarization
Nov, 2008107 pages
Part of Theory and foregrounds: CMBPol mission concept study. Proceedings, CMB Polarization Workshop, Batavia, USA, June 23-26, 2008, 10-120
Published in:
- AIP Conf.Proc. 1141 (2009) 1, 10-120
Contribution to:
- Published: Jun 17, 2009
e-Print:
- 0811.3919 [astro-ph]
DOI:
Report number:
- FERMILAB-PUB-08-601-A
Citations per year
Abstract: (AIP)
We summarize the utility of precise cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization measurements as probes of the physics of inflation. We focus on the prospects for using CMB measurements to differentiate various inflationary mechanisms. In particular, a detection of primordial B‐mode polarization would demonstrate that inflation occurred at a very high energy scale, and that the inflaton traversed a super‐Planckian distance in field space. We explain how such a detection or constraint would illuminate aspects of physics at the Planck scale. Moreover, CMB measurements can constrain the scale‐dependence and non‐Gaussianity of the primordial fluctuations and limit the possibility of a significant isocurvature contribution. Each such limit provides crucial information on the underlying inflationary dynamics. Finally, we quantify these considerations by presenting forecasts for the sensitivities of a future satellite experiment to the inflationary parameters.- 03.70.+k
- 95.85.Ry
- 42.68.Mj
- cosmic background radiation
- polarization
- quantum field theory
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