Related papers: Spectator stresses and CMB observables
Future high-sensitivity measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies and energy spectrum will be limited by our understanding and modeling of foregrounds. Not only does more information need to be gathered and…
We review the physical processes that are thought to produce anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background, focusing primarily (but not exclusively) on the effects of acoustic waves in the early Universe. We attempt throughout to supply an…
I review the general aspects of cosmological parameter estimation from observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies in the framework of inflationary adiabatic models. The most recent CMB datasets are…
Understanding the non-adiabatic pressure, or relative entropy, perturbation is crucial for studies of early-universe vorticity and Cosmic Microwave Background observations. We calculate the evolution of the linear non-adiabatic pressure…
We study the evolution of perturbations during the domination and decay of a massive particle species whose mass and decay rate are allowed to depend on the expectation value of a light scalar field. We specialize in the case where the…
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) comprises the oldest photons in the universe and is arguably our most direct cosmological observable. All precise and accurate measurements of its attributes serve to distinguish between cosmological…
The cosmic neutrino background and other light relics leave distinct imprints in the cosmic microwave background anisotropies through their gravitational influence. Since neutrinos decoupled from the primordial plasma about one second after…
In this paper we present a complete computation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies up to third order from gravitational perturbations accounting for scalar, vector and tensor perturbations. We then specify our results to…
Major advances in the observation and theory of cosmic microwave background anisotropies have opened up a new era in cosmology. This has encouraged the hope that the fundamental parameters of cosmology will be determined to high accuracy in…
We analyze the state space of a Bianchi-I universe with anisotropic sources. Here we consider an extended state space which includes null geodesics in this background. The evolution equations for all the state observables are derived.…
Despite the impressive success of the standard cosmological model, several anomalies defy its triumph. Among them is the so-called lensing anomaly: the Planck satellite observes stronger CMB gravitational lensing than expected. The role of…
We study the possible contribution of a stochastic gravitational wave background to the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in cold and mixed dark matter (CDM and MDM) models. We test this contribution against recent…
We study how the presence of a background magnetic field, of intensity compatible with current observation constraints, affects the linear evolution of cosmological density perturbations at scales below the Hubble radius. The magnetic field…
A compact overview of the status of CMB anisotropy results and their cosmological interpretation. Section headings: Introduction; CMB Spectrum; Description of CMB Anisotropies; Cosmological Parameters; Physics of Anisotropies; Current…
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) physics can be used to constrain the dark energy dynamics: B modes of the polarization of the diffuse CMB emission as well as the polarized signal towards clusters of galaxies are sensitive to the…
Recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy have provided evidence for the presence of oscillations in the angular power spectrum. These oscillations are a wonderful confirmation of the standard cosmological scenario…
We present the initial conditions for a decaying cosmological perturbation and study its signatures in the CMB anisotropies and matter power spectra. An adiabatic decaying mode in presence of components which are not described as perfect…
Probing the geometry of the universe is one of the most important endevours in cosmology. Current observational data from the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy (CMB), galaxy surveys and type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) strongly constrain…
The presence of a dipolar statistical anisotropy in the spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations was reported by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and has recently been confirmed in the Planck 2013 analysis…
We use observational data on the large scale structure (LSS) of the Universe measured over a wide range of scales from sub-galactic up to horizon scale and on the cosmic microwave background anisotropies to determine cosmological parameters…