In this paper, we use a complete model of classical primordial standard clocks as an example to develop a methodology of directly comparing numerical predictions from complicated multi-field feature models with the Planck data, including the Planck 2018 Plik unbinned likelihood and the statistically most powerful CamSpec 2020 likelihood for temperature and polarization data. As this two-field inflationary model offers a plethora of primordial feature spectra that represent combinations of sharp and resonance feature signals non-trivially distributed over extended cosmological scales, its data comparison has not been satisfactorily addressed by previous attempts using analytical templates. The method of this paper, consisting of numerical prediction, effective parameter construction and nested sampling data comparison, allows us to efficiently explore every possible spectra from the model. We classify the resulting feature candidates in three different frequency ranges. We use the Bayesian evidences to assess the statistical significance of the candidates over the baseline model, taking into account the effect of additional parameters and the look-elsewhere effect. Although none of the candidates is statistically significant, the methodology of this paper can be used to facilitate the future model-building and data-screening process of primordial features, and the candidates can be subjected to further tests with data from the upcoming cosmic microwave background polarization observations and galaxy surveys.
We use Planck data released in 2015 to constrain the abundance of primordial black holes (PBHs) in dark matter in two different reionization models (one is the instantaneous reionization and the other is the asymmetric reionization), and significantly improve the upper limits on the abundance of PBHs from WMAP 3-year data by around two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, these new limits imply that the event rates of mergers of PBH binaries (Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$) are less than $0.002$ for $M_\text{pbh}=30M_\odot$, $5$ for $M_\text{pbh}=10M_\odot$ and $2000$ for $M_\text{pbh}=2M_\odot$ at $95\%$ …
We make a joint analysis of BICEP2 and recently released Planck HFI 353 GHz dust polarization data, and find that there is no evidence for the primordial gravitational waves and the bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio becomes $r<0.083$ at $95%$ confidence level in the base $Λ$CDM + tensor model. Extending to the model with running of scalar spectral index, the bound is a little bit relaxed to $r<0.116$ at $95%$ confidence level. Our results imply that the inflation model with a single monomial potential is marginally disfavored at around $95%$ confidence level. Especially, the $m^2ϕ^2/2$ infla…
By taking into account the contamination of foreground radiations, we employ the Fisher matrix to forecast the future sensitivity on the tilt of power spectrum of primordial tensor perturbations for several ground-based (AdvACT, CLASS, Keck/BICEP3, Simons Array, SPT-3G), balloon-borne (EBEX, Spider) and satellite (CMBPol, COrE, LiteBIRD) experiments of B-mode polarizations. For the fiducial model $n_t=0$, our results show that the satellite experiments give good sensitivity on the tensor tilt $n_t$ to the level $σ_{n_t}\lesssim0.1$ for $r\gtrsim2\times10^{-3}$, while the ground-based and ballo…
We study the effect of sudden transitions in the effective Planck mass during inflation on primordial power spectra. Specifically, we consider models in which this variation results from the non-minimal coupling of a Brans-Dicke type scalar field. We find that the scalar power spectra develop features at the scales corresponding to those leaving the horizon during the transition. In addition, we observe that the tensor perturbations are largely unaffected, so long as the variation of the Planck mass is below the percent level. Otherwise, the tensor power spectra exhibit damped oscillations ove…
With the Planck 2015 Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization data, we search for possible features in the primordial power spectrum (PPS). We revisit the Wiggly Whipped Inflation (WWI) framework and demonstrate how generation of some particular primordial features can improve the fit to Planck data. WWI potential allows the scalar field to transit from a steeper potential to a nearly flat potential through a discontinuity either in potential or in its derivatives. WWI offers the inflaton potential parametrizations that generate a wide variety of features in the primordia…
Deviations from Gaussian statistics of the cosmological density fluctuations, so-called primordial non-Gaussianities (NG), are one of the most informative fingerprints of the origin of structures in the universe. Indeed, they can probe physics at energy scales inaccessible to laboratory experiments, and are sensitive to the interactions of the field(s) that generated the primordial fluctuations, contrary to the Gaussian linear theory. As a result, they can discriminate between inflationary models that are otherwise almost indistinguishable. In this short review, we explain how to compute the n…
Recently, the Planck 2013 results showed possible evidence for a dipolar power modulation of the CMB temperature fluctuations at low--(\ell) multipoles. This anomaly might imply certain deviations from statistical isotropy. To incorporate the Planck's data into standard cosmological model, we propose an inflation model of the very early universe in an anisotropic spacetime. A generalized Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric is presented in the Randers-Finsler spacetime. We obtain the primordial power spectrum of the scalar perturbation with direction dependence, such as the dipolar modulati…
The current available CMB data show an anomalously low value of the CMB temperature fluctuations at large angular scales (l < 40). This lack of power is not explained by the minimal LCDM model, and one of the possible mechanisms explored in the literature to address this problem is the presence of features in the primordial power spectrum (PPS) motivated by the early universe physics. In this paper, we analyse a set of cutoff inflationary PPS models using a Bayesian model comparison approach in light of the latest Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data from the Planck Collaboration. Our result…
In this article we provide a new closed relationship between cosmic abundance of primordial gravitational waves and primordial blackholes originated from initial inflationary perturbations for inflection-point models of inflation where inflation occurs below the Planck scale. The current Planck constraint on tensor-to-scalar ratio, running of the spectral tilt, and from the abundance of dark matter content in the universe, we can deduce a strict bound on the current abundance of primordial blackholes to be within a range, $9.99712\times 10^{-3}<Ω_{PBH}h^{2}<9.99736\times 10^{-3}$.
Cosmic magnetic fields are observed to be coherent on large scales and could have a primordial origin. Non-Gaussian signals in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are generated by primordial magnetic fields as the magnetic stresses and temperature anisotropy they induce depend quadratically on the magnetic field. We compute the CMB scalar trispectrum on large angular scales, for nearly scale-invariant magnetic fields, sourced via the Sachs-Wolfe effect. The trispectra induced by magnetic energy density and by magnetic scalar anisotropic stress are found to have typical magnitudes of approxim…
We discuss the discordance between the estimated values of the cosmological parameters from Planck assuming the concordance $Λ$CDM model and low-redshift measurements. In particular, we consider the Hubble constant mismatch between Planck temperature constraint for the $Λ$CDM model and the Riess et. al. local measurements as well as the discordance between the estimated value of $S_8$ from Planck and some weak lensing surveys such as Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS-450) and Dark Energy Survey (DES) observations. The discordance can come from a wide range of non-standard cosmological or astrophysical …
We present new constraints on possible features in the primordial inflationary density perturbations power spectrum in light of the recent Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies measurements from the Planck satellite. We found that the Planck data hints for the presence of features in two different ranges of angular scales, corresponding to multipoles 10< l <60 and 150< l < 300, with a decrease in the best fit chi^2 value with respect to the featureless "vanilla" LCDM model of Delta chi^2 around 9 in both cases.
We present three non-parametric Bayesian primordial reconstructions using Planck 2018 polarization data: linear spline primordial power spectrum reconstructions, cubic spline inflationary potential reconstructions and sharp-featured primordial power spectrum reconstructions. All three methods conditionally show hints of an oscillatory feature in the primordial power spectrum in the multipole range $\ell\sim20$ to $\ell\sim50$, which is to some extent preserved upon marginalization. We find no evidence for deviations from a pure power law across a broad observable window ($50\lesssim\ell\lesssi…
In this paper I introduce a precise constraint on primordial magnetogenesis, for a generic class of single-field inflationary model followed by small field excursion below the Planck scale. I also establish a connection between the magnetic field at the present epoch and primordial gravity waves ($r$) via non-vanishing CP asymmetry parameter ($ε_{\bf CP}$), which triggers the leptogenesis scenario. Finally, I explore various hidden cosmophenomenological features of theoretical CMB B-mode polarization spectra, which can be treated as a significant probe to put further stringent constraint on lo…
Combining Planck CMB temperature [1] and BICEP2 B-mode polarization data [2,3] we show qualitatively that, assuming inflationary consistency relation, the power-law form of the scalar primordial spectrum is ruled out at more than $3σ$ CL. This is an important finding, since the power-law form of the scalar primordial spectrum is one of the main assumptions of concordance model of cosmology and also a direct prediction of many inflationary scenarios. We show that a break or step in the form of the primordial scalar perturbation spectrum, similar to what we studied recently analyzing Planck data…
The recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies provided by the Planck satellite experiment have significantly improved the constraints on several cosmological parameters. In this brief paper we point out a small but interesting tension present between recent values of the primordial deuterium measured from quasar absorption line systems and the same value inferred, albeit indirectly, from the Planck measurements assuming ΛCDM and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. Here we discuss this tension in detail investigating the possible new physics that could be responsible for the ten…
The recently released BICEP2 data detected the primordial B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) map which strongly supports for a large tensor-to-scalar ratio, and thus, is found to be in tension with the Planck experiment with no evidence of primordial gravitational waves. Such an observational tension, if confirmed by forthcoming measurements, would bring a theoretical challenge for the very early universe models. To address this issue, we in the present paper revisit a single field inflation model, which includes a modulated potential. We show that this inflation mode…
The primordial power spectrum describes the initial perturbations that seeded the large-scale structure we observe today. It provides an indirect probe of inflation or other structure-formation mechanisms. In this letter, we recover the primordial power spectrum from the Planck PR1 dataset, using our recently published algorithm PRISM. PRISM is a sparsity-based inversion method, that aims at recovering features in the primordial power spectrum from the empirical power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This ill-posed inverse problem is regularised using a sparsity prior on feat…
Since the first limit on the (local) primordial non-Gaussianity parameter, fNL, was obtained from COBE data in 2002, observations of the CMB have been playing a central role in constraining the amplitudes of various forms of non-Gaussianity in primordial fluctuations. The current 68% limit from the 7-year WMAP data is fNL=32+/-21, and the Planck satellite is expected to reduce the uncertainty by a factor of four in a few years from now. If fNL>>1 is found by Planck with high statistical significance, all single-field models of inflation would be ruled out. Moreover, if the Planck satellite fin…
We update the constraints on possible features in the primordial inflationary density perturbation spectrum by using the latest data from the WMAP7 and ACT Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. The inclusion of new data significantly improves the constraints with respect to older work, especially to smaller angular scales. While we found no clear statistical evidence in the data for extensions to the simplest, featureless, inflationary model, models with a step provide a significantly better fit than standard featureless power-law spectra. We show that the possibility of a step in the infla…
We present an upgraded combined estimator, based on Minkowski Functionals and Neural Networks, with excellent performance in detecting primordial non-Gaussianity in simulated maps that also contain a weighted mixture of Galactic contaminations, besides real pixel's noise from Planck cosmic microwave background radiation data. We rigorously test the efficiency of our estimator considering several plausible scenarios for residual non-Gaussianities in the foreground-cleaned Planck maps, with the intuition to optimize the training procedure of the Neural Network to discriminate between contaminati…
Using the temperature data from Planck we search for departures from a power-law primordial power spectrum, employing Bayesian model-selection and posterior probabilities. We parametrize the spectrum with $n$ knots located at arbitrary values of $\log{k}$, with both linear and cubic splines. This formulation recovers both slow modulations and sharp transitions in the primordial spectrum. The power spectrum is well-fit by a featureless, power-law at wavenumbers $k>10^{-3} \, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$. A modulated primordial spectrum yields a better fit relative to $Λ$CDM at large scales, but there is …
With the recently published Cosmic Microwave Background data from Planck we address the optimized binning of the primordial power spectrum. As an important modification to the usual binning of the primordial spectrum, along with the spectral amplitude of the bins, we allow the position of the bins also to vary. This technique enables us to address the location of the possible broad physical features in the primordial spectrum with relatively smaller number of bins compared to the analysis performed earlier. This approach is in fact a reconstruction method looking for broad features in the prim…
The calculation results of the evolution of the cluster of primordial black holes based on the Fokker-Planck equation with neglecting of the gas accretion onto black holes are presented. In addition, we consider how a massive black hole located within the cluster center affects on its evolution. Despite it creates an additional potential in the central region of the cluster and might capture surrounding black holes, a negligible growth rate of a central black hole was shown for 1 Gyr. Furthermore, we find a significant (approximately tenfold) expansion of the cluster.
We present proof of principle for a two way interplay between physics at very early Universe and late time observations. We find a relation between primordial mechanisms responsible for large scale power suppression in the primordial power spectrum and the value of reionization optical depth $τ$. Such mechanisms can affect the estimation of $τ$. We show that using future measurements of $τ$, one can obtain constraints on the pre-inflationary dynamics, providing a new window on the physics of the very early Universe. Furthermore, the new, re-estimated $τ$ can potentially resolve moderate discre…
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature bispectrum is currently the most precise tool for constraining primordial non-Gaussianity (NG). The Planck temperature data tightly constrain the amplitude of local-type NG: $f_{\rm NL}^{\rm loc} = 2.5 \pm 5.7$. Here, we compute previously-neglected foreground biases in temperature-based $f_{\rm NL}^{\rm loc}$ measurements, due to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect, gravitational lensing, the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects, and the cosmic infrared background. While standard analyses already subtract a significant bias on …
Using modified Richardson-Lucy algorithm we reconstruct the primordial power spectrum (PPS) from Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropy data. In our analysis we use different combinations of angular power spectra from Planck to reconstruct the shape of the primordial power spectrum and locate possible features. Performing an extensive error analysis we found the dip near $\ell\sim750-850$ represents the most prominent feature in the data. Feature near $\ell\sim1800-2000$ is detectable with high confidence only in 217 GHz spectrum and is apparently consequence of a smal…
We develop an accurate and efficient Bayesian method to reconstruct the primordial power spectrum in a model-independent way, and apply it to the latest cosmic microwave background measurement from Planck mission, and the large scale structure observation of SDSS-III BOSS (CMASS) sample, combined with the type Ia supernovae sample (SNLS 3-year) and the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations from SDSS-II, 6dF, and WiggleZ survey. We confirm that the scale-invariant primordial power spectrum is strongly disfavored, and a model with suppressed power on horizon scales is supported by current…
We investigate constraints on the abundance of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the mass range 10^{15}-10^{17} g using data from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and MeV extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB). Hawking radiation from PBHs with lifetime greater than the age of the universe leaves an imprint on the CMB through modification of the ionization history and the damping of CMB anisotropies. Using a model for redshift dependent energy injection efficiencies, we show that a combination of temperature and polarization data from Planck provides the strongest constraint on the abunda…
The primordial power spectrum is an indirect probe of inflation or other structure-formation mechanisms. We introduce a new method, named \textbf{PRISM}, to estimate this spectrum from the empirical cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum. This is a sparsity-based inversion method, which leverages a sparsity prior on features in the primordial spectrum in a wavelet dictionary to regularise the inverse problem. This non-parametric approach is able to reconstruct the global shape as well as localised features of spectrum accurately and proves to be robust for detecting deviations from t…
We show that involving a sterile neutrino species in the $Λ$CDM+$r$ model can help relieve the tension about the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ between the Planck temperature data and the BICEP2 B-mode polarization data. Such a model is called the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$ν_s$ model in this paper. Compared to the $Λ$CDM+$r$ model, there are two extra parameters, $N_{\rm eff}$ and $m_{ν,{\rm sterile}}^{\rm eff}$, in the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$ν_s$ model. We show that in this model the tension between Planck and BICEP2 can be greatly relieved at the cost of the increase of $n_s$. However, comparing with the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$dn_…
Within the framework of RG improved inflationary cosmology motivated by asymptotically safe gravity, we study the dynamics of a scalar field which can be interpreted as the Higgs field. The background trajectories of this model can provide sufficient inflationary e-folds and a graceful exit to a radiation dominated phase. We study the possibility of generating primordial curvature perturbations through the Standard Model Higgs boson. This can be achieved under finely tuned parameter choices by making use of the modulated reheating mechanism. The primordial non-gaussianity is expected to be siz…
We update the forecasts for the measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ for various ground-based experiments (AdvACT, CLASS, Keck/BICEP3, Simons Array, SPT-3G), balloons (EBEX 10k and Spider) and satellites (CMBPol, COrE and LiteBIRD), taking into account the recent Planck data on polarized dust and using a component separation method. The forecasts do not change significantly with respect to previous estimates when at least three frequencies are available, provided foregrounds can be accurately described by few parameters. We argue that a theoretically motivated goal for future experime…
A search for super-imposed oscillations to the primordial power spectrum in Planck and SPT-3G 2018 data
Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics（亚太理论物理中心）；Department of Physics, POSTECH（浦项科技大学物理系）；INAF/OAS Bologna, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio（意大利国家天体物理研究所/博洛尼亚天文与空间科学观测站）；INFN, Sezione di Bologna（意大利国家核物理研究所博洛尼部分部）；The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, HBNI（印度数学科学研究所）；Homi Bhabha National Institute（霍米·巴巴国立大学）；Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute（韩国天文与空间科学研究院）；Korea University of Science and Technology（韩国科学技术院）
We update and extend our previous CMB anisotropy constraints on primordial magnetic fields through their dissipation by ambipolar diffusion and MHD decaying turbulence effects on the post-recombination ionization history. We derive the constraints using the latest Planck 2018 data release which improves on the E-mode polarization leading to overall tighter constraints with respect to Planck 2015. We also use the low-multipole E-mode polarization likelihood obtained by the SROLL2 map making algorithm and we note how it is compatible with larger magnetic field amplitudes than the Planck 2018 bas…
In this work we explore the possibility of variations in the primordial scalar power spectrum around the power-law shape, as predicted by single-field slow-roll inflationary scenarios. We search for the trace of these fluctuations in a semi-blind, model-independent way on the observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) sky. In particular we use two sets of perturbation patterns, specific patterns with typical features such as oscillations, bumps and transitions, as well as perturbation modes, constructed from the eigenanalysis of the forecasted or measured covariance of perturbation …
We use the localized principle component analysis to detect deviations from scale invariance of the primordial power spectrum of curvature perturbations. With the technique we make uncorrelated estimates of the primordial power spectrum with five wavenumber bins. In the framework of a minimal LCDM model, using the latest cosmic microwave background data from the WMAP and ACT experiments we find that more than 95% of the preferred models are incompatible with the assumption of scale-invariance, but still compatible with a power-law primordial spectrum. We also forecast the sensitivity and const…
We show that the new precise measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropies made by the Planck satellite significantly improves previous constraints on the cosmic gravitational waves background (CGWB) at frequencies $f>10^{-15}$ Hz. On scales smaller than the horizon at the time of decoupling, primordial gravitational waves contribute to the total radiation content of the Universe. Considering adiabatic perturbations, CGWB affects temperature and polarization CMB power spectra and matter power spectrum in a manner identical to relativistic particles…
We use data from the nominal Planck mission to constrain modulations in the primordial power spectrum associated with monodromy inflation. The largest improvement in fit relative to the unmodulated model has Δχ^2~10 and we find no evidence for a primordial signal, in contrast to a previous analysis of the WMAP9 dataset, for which Δχ^2~20. The Planck and WMAP9 results are broadly consistent on angular scales where they are expected to agree as far as best-fit values are concerned. However, even on these scales the significance of the signal is reduced in Planck relative to WMAP, and is consiste…
By using the cubic spline interpolation method, we reconstruct the shape of the primordial scalar and tensor power spectra from the recently released {\it Planck} temperature and BICEP2 polarization cosmic microwave background data. We find that the vanishing scalar index running ($\dd n_s/\dd\ln k$) model is strongly disfavored at more than $3σ$ confidence level on the $k=0.0002$ Mpc$^{-1}$ scale. Furthermore, the power-law parameterization gives a blue-tilt tensor spectrum, no matter using only the first 5 bandpowers $n_t = 1.20^{+0.56}_{-0.64} (95% {\rm CL})$ or the full 9 bandpowers $n_t =…
Planck isocurvature constraint on primordial black holes lighter than a kiloton
School of Physics, Korea Institute for Advanced Study（韩国高等科学研究院物理学院）；Department of Science Education, Ewha Womans University（梨花女子大学科学教育系）；Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics（亚太理论物理中心）；Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学天文学与天体物理学系及引力与宇宙研究所）；Cosmology, Gravity and Astroparticle Physics Group, Center for Theoretical Physics of the Universe, Institute for Basic Science（基础科学研究院宇宙理论物理中心宇宙学、引力和高能粒子物理组）；Department of Science Education, Gwangju National University of Education（光州国立教育大学科学教育系）；Department of Physics Education & Research Institute of Natural Science, Gyeongsang National University（庆尚国立大学物理教育系及自然科学研究所）
We present a minimally-parametric reconstruction of the primordial power spectrum using the most recent cosmic microwave background and large scale structure data sets. Our goal is to constrain the shape of the power spectrum while simultaneously avoiding strong theoretical priors and over-fitting of the data. We find no evidence for any departure from a power law spectral index. We also find that an exact scale-invariant power spectrum is disfavored by the data, but this conclusion is weaker than the corresponding result assuming a theoretically-motivated power law spectral index prior. The r…
We briefly summarize the impact of the recent Planck measurements for string inflationary models, and outline what might be expected to be learned in the near future from the expected improvement in sensitivity to the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio. We comment on whether these models provide sufficient added value to compensate for their complexity, and ask how they fare in the face of the new constraints on non-gaussianity and dark radiation. We argue that as a group the predictions made before Planck agree well with what has been seen, and draw conclusions from this about what is likely t…
Non-Gaussianity of the primordial density perturbations provides an important measure to constrain models of inflation. At cubic order the non-Gaussianity is captured by two parameters $τ_{\rm NL}$ and $g_{\rm NL}$ that determine the amplitude of the density perturbation trispectrum. Here we report measurements of the kurtosis power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature as mapped by Planck by making use of correlations between square temperature-square temperature and cubic temperature-temperature anisotropies. In combination with noise simulations, we find the best join…
In this work, we constrain the spectral index $n_t$ of the primordial gravitational wave power spectrum in a universe with sterile neutrinos by using the Planck temperature data, the WMAP 9-year polarization data, the baryon acoustic oscillation data, and the BICEP2 data. We call this model the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$ν_s$+$n_t$ model. The additional massive sterile neutrino species can significantly relieve the tension between the Planck and BICEP2 data, and thus can reduce the possible effects of this tension on the fit results of $n_t$. To constrain the parameters of sterile neutrino, we also utilize t…
We reconstruct the power spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations by applying a well-validated non-parametric technique employing Tikhonov regularisation to the first data release from the Planck satellite. To improve the reconstruction on small spatial scales we include data from the ground-based ACT and SPT experiments, the WiggleZ galaxy redshift survey, the CFHTLenS tomographic weak lensing survey, and spectral analysis of the Lyman-alpha forest. The reconstructed scalar spectrum (assuming the standard LCDM cosmology) is not scale-free but has an infrared cutoff at k < 5 x 10^-4 Mpc^…
Because the inflationary mechanism is extremely sensitive to UV-physics, the construction of theoretically robust models of inflation provides a unique window on Planck-scale physics. We review efforts to use an axion with a shift symmetry to ensure a prolonged slow-roll background evolution. The symmetry dictates which operators are allowed, and these in turn determine the observational predictions of this class of models, which include observable gravitational waves (potentially chiral), oscillations in all primordial correlators, specific deviations from scale invariance and Gaussianity and…
Standard Clocks in the primordial epoch leave a special type of features in the primordial perturbations, which can be used to directly measure the scale factor of the primordial universe as a function of time a(t), thus discriminating between inflation and alternatives. We have started to search for such signals in the Planck 2013 data using the key predictions of the Standard Clock. In this Letter, we summarize the key predictions of the Standard Clock and present an interesting candidate example in Planck 2013 data. Motivated by this candidate, we construct and compute full Standard Clock m…
This lecture is a sketch of the physics of the cosmic microwave background. The observed anisotropy can be divided into four main contributions: variations in the temperature and gravitational potential of the primordial plasma, Doppler effect from its motion, and a net red/blueshift the photons accumulate from traveling through evolving gravitational potentials on their way from the primordial plasma to here. These variations are due to primordial perturbations, probably caused by quantum fluctuations in the very early universe. The ongoing Planck satellite mission to observe the cosmic micro…
The {\em Planck} DR3 measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropies power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) show an excess of smoothing of the acoustic peaks with respect to $Λ$CDM, often quantified by a phenomenological parameter $A_{\rm L}$. A specific feature superimposed to the primordial power spectrum has been suggested as a physical solution for this smoothing excess. Here, we investigate the impact of this specific localized oscillation with a frequency linear in the wavenumber, designed to mimic the smoothing of CMB temperature spectrum corresponding to $…
Primordial or Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the three historical strong evidences for the Big-Bang model together with the expansion of the Universe and the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB). The recent results by the Planck mission have slightly changed the estimate of the baryonic density Omega_b, compared to the previous WMAP value. This article updates the BBN predictions for the light elements using the new value of Omega_b determined by Planck, as well as an improvement of the nuclear network and new spectroscopic observations. While there is no major modification, t…
Primordial or big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the three historical strong evidences for the big bang model. The recent results by the Planck satellite mission have slightly changed the estimate of the baryonic density compared to the previous WMAP analysis. This article updates the BBN predictions for the light elements using the cosmological parameters determined by Planck, as well as an improvement of the nuclear network and new spectroscopic observations. There is a slight lowering of the primordial Li/H abundance, however, this lithium value still remains typically 3 times larger …
The new Planck constraints on the local bispectrum parameter fnl are about 10^5 times tighter than the current constraints on the trispectrum parameter gnl, which means that the allowed numerical values of the second and third order terms in the perturbative expansion of the curvature perturbation are comparable. We show that a consequence of this is that if gnl is large enough to be detectable, then it will induce a large variation between the observable value of fnl and its value in a larger inflated volume. Even if there were only a few extra efoldings between the beginning of inflation and…
Inspired by the study of mild transient reductions in the speed of sound of the adiabatic mode during inflation, we search for a primordial localized feature imprinted in cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure formation observables. We find some common oscillatory patterns both in the Planck CMB temperature-temperature power spectrum and the WiggleZ galaxy spectrum. By performing independent searches with these two data sets, we find a coincidence in the most significant mode previously found by Achúcarro et al. 2013 by using only Planck data. Furthermore, the joint data analysi…
We consider the possibility that the primordial curvature perturbation is direction-dependent. To first order this is parameterised by a quadrupolar modulation of the power spectrum and results in statistical anisotropy of the CMB, which can be quantified using `bipolar spherical harmonics'. We compute these for the Planck DR2-2015 SMICA map and estimate the noise covariance from Planck Full Focal Plane 9 simulations. A constant quadrupolar modulation is detected with 2.2 sigma significance, dropping to 2 sigma when the primordial power is assumed to scale with wave number k as a power law. Go…
If the B-mode signal in the CMB polarization seen by the BICEP2 experiment is confirmed, it has dramatic implications for models of inflation. The result is also in tension with Planck limits on standard inflationary models. It is therefore important to investigate whether this signal can arise from alternative sources. If so, this could lessen the pressure on inflationary models and the tension with Planck data. We investigate whether vector and tensor modes from primordial magnetic fields can explain the signal. We find that in principle, magnetic fields generated during inflation can indeed…
