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Astrophysical magnetic fields decay primarily via two processes namely, ambipolar diffusion and turbulence. Constraints on the strength and the spectral index of non-helical magnetic fields have been derived earlier in the literature…
We examine the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy for signatures of early quintessence dark energy -- a non-negligible quintessence energy density during the recombination and structure formation eras. In contrast to a…
The cosmological recombination of H and He at z \sim 1000 and the formation of H2 during the dark ages produce a non-thermal photon excess in the Wien tail of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) blackbody spectrum. Here we compute the…
We discuss how one can reconstruct the thermal history of the Universe by combining cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements and gravitational wave (GW) direct detection experiments. Assuming various expansion eras to take place after…
Neutral hydrogen is ubiquitous, absorbing and emitting 21 cm radiation throughout much of the Universe's history. Active sources of perturbations, such as cosmic strings, would generate simultaneous perturbations in the distribution of…
We examine a type of features in the primordial scalar power spectrum, namely, the bump-like feature(s) that arise as a result of burst(s) of particle production during inflation. The latest CMB observations by Planck 2018 can accommodate…
We investigate the possibility that a heavy scalar field, whose mass exceeds the Hubble scale during inflation, could leave non-negligible signatures in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum through the…
Motivated by the recent detection by WMAP of a large optical depth to Thomson scattering -- implying a very early reionization epoch -- we assess a scenario where the universe was reionized by `miniquasars' powered by intermediate-mass…
The frequency spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a relatively untapped source of data which can allow us to peer beyond the surface of last scattering. Small deviations away from a perfect blackbody shape will encode…
We consider cosmological models with a power spectrum of perturbations featuring an enhanced amplitude on dwarf galaxy scales (with a "bump" or a "tilt"). Early formation of a large number of galaxies in such models, compared to the…
Density inhomogeneity in the intergalactic medium (IGM) can boost the recombination rate of ionized gas substantially, affecting the growth of HII regions during reionization. Previous attempts to quantify this effect typically failed to…
We have compared the absolute temperature data of the CMB spectrum with models for CMB spectra distorted by a single or two heating processes at different cosmic times. The constraints on the fractional energy injected in the radiation…
Spectral distortions (SDs) of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) provide a powerful tool for studying particle physics. Here we compute the distortion signals from decaying particles that convert directly into photons at different epochs…
Cosmic reionization is expected to be complex, extended and very inhomogeneous. Existing constraints at z~6 on the volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction, <x_HI>, are highly model-dependent and controversial. Constraints at z<6,…
Precision measurement of the cosmological recombination spectrum can provide an entire new window to look at the early universe. We aim to quantify the information hidden in the cosmological recombination spectrum and for this purpose we…
We compute the corrections to the cosmological hydrogen recombination history due to delayed feedback of Lyman-series photons and the escape in the Lyman-continuum. The former process is expected to slightly delay recombination, while the…
We investigate a framework aiming to provide a common origin for the large-angle anomalies detected in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which are hypothesized as the result of the statistical inhomogeneity developed by different…
Cascade of particles injected as Hawking Radiation from Primordial Black Holes (PBH) can potentially change the cosmic recombination history by ionizing and heating the intergalactic medium, which results in altering the anisotropy spectra…
We have considered the formation of the luminescent subordinate HeI lines by the absorption of continuum radiation from a source in the lines of the main HeI series in the expanding Universe. It is suggested that at some moment of time,…
We explore the bounds that can be placed on interactions between cold dark matter and vacuum energy, with equation of state $w=-1$, using state-of-the-art cosmological observations. We consider linear perturbations about a simple background…