Related papers: Can inhomogeneities solve the horizon problem ?

The standard cosmological model, which assumes statistical isotropy and parity invariance, predicts the absence of correlations between even-parity and odd-parity observables of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Contrary to these…

Voyage 2050 White Paper highlighting the unique science opportunities using spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). CMB spectral distortions probe many processes throughout the history of the Universe. Precision…

Astronomical observations reveal hierarchical structures in the Universe, from galaxies, groups of galaxies, clusters and superclusters, to filaments and voids. On the largest scales it seems that some kind of statistical homogeneity can be…

The distribution of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in the sky is determined by the hypothesis of random Gaussian distribution of the primordial density perturbations. This hypotheses is well motivated by the…

Using an analytical model, we compute the distribution of image separations resulting from gravitational lensing of distant sources, for 7 COBE-normalized CDM models with various combinations of Omega_0 and lambda_0. Our model assumes that…

We use the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy to place limits on large-scale magnetic fields in an inhomogeneous (perturbed Friedmann) universe. If no assumptions are made about the spacetime geometry, only a weak limit can…

We have studied the cosmic microwave background (CMB) map looking for features beyond cosmological isotropy. We began by tiling the CMB variance map (which are produced by different smoothing scales) with stripes of different sizes along…

We study how the initial inhomogeneities of the universe affect the onset of inflation in the closed universe. We consider the model of a chaotic inflation which is driven by a massive scalar field. In order to construct an inhomogeneous…

Forthcoming cosmic microwave background experiments (CMB) will provide precise new tests of structure-formation theories. The geometry of the Universe may be determined robustly, and the classical cosmological parameters, such as the…

Measurements of CMB anisotropy and, more recently, polarization have played a very important role allowing precise determination of various parameters of the `standard' cosmological model. The expectation of the paradigm of inflation and…

We reconsider analysis of data on the cosmic microwave background on the largest angular scales. Temperature multipoles of any order factor naturally into a direct product of axial quantities and cosets. Striking coincidences exist among…

We present new observational constraints on inhomogeneous models based on observables independent of the CMB and large-scale structure. Using Bayesian evidence we find very strong evidence for the homogeneous LCDM model, thus disfavouring…

The emergence of several unexpected large-scale features in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) has pointed to possible new physics driving the origin of density fluctuations in the early Universe and their evolution into the large-scale…

See comments. We calculate analytically an effect of the thermal Comptonization on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons when they propagate through galaxy clusters. We estimate a deformation of the CMB spectrum due to multiple…

Multiply connected space sections of the universe on a scale smaller than the horizon size can leave an imprint on cosmic microwave background polarization maps, in such a way that the so-called ``circles-in-the-sky'' method can be used to…

We investigate the inhomogeneous inflation, in which the space exponentially expands with inhomogeneities, and its cosmological perturbations. The inhomogeneous inflation is realized by introducing scalar fields with spacelike gradients…

Large scale structure deflects cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons. Since large angular scales in the large scale structure contribute significantly to the gravitational lensing effect, a realistic simulation of CMB lensing requires a…

We propose a model of inflation driven by the relaxation of an initially Planckian cosmological constant due to diffusion. The model can generate a (approximately) scale invariant spectrum of (adiabatic) primordial perturbations with the…

Quantum field theory, which is generally used to describe the origin of large-scale gravitational perturbations during cosmic inflation, has been shown to omit an important physical effect in curved space-time, the nonlocal entanglement…

I present a pedagogical review of inflation and the cosmic microwave background. I describe how a short period of accelerated expansion can replace the special initial conditions of the standard big bang model. I also describe the…