Related papers: Probing non-Gaussianities on Large Scales in WMAP5…
We study signatures in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) induced by the presence of strong spatial curvature prior to the epoch of inflation which generated our present universe. If inflation does not last sufficiently long to drive the…
Bouncing models of cosmology, as they arise e.g. in loop quantum cosmology, can be followed by an inflationary phase and generate close-to-scale-invariant fluctuation spectra as observed in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). However,…
In the context of the present and future Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments, going beyond the information provided by the power spectrum has become necessary in order to tightly constrain the cosmological model. The non-Gaussian…
Recent second-order perturbation computations have provided an accurate prediction for the primordial gravitational potential $\Phi(x)$ in scenarios in which cosmological perturbations are generated either during or after inflation. This…
The two fundamental assumptions of the standard cosmological model - that the initial fluctuations are statistically isotropic and Gaussian - are rigorously tested using maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy from the…
The assumption of Gaussianity of the primordial perturbations plays an important role in modern cosmology. The most direct test of this hypothesis consists in testing Gaussianity of the CMB maps. Counting the pixels with the temperatures in…
To efficiently probe primordial non-Gaussianity using Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data, we require theoretical predictions that are factorizable, \textit{i.e.}\ those whose kinematic dependence can be separated. This property does not…
We describe our methodology for comparing the WMAP measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and other complementary data sets to theoretical models. The unprecedented quality of the WMAP data, and the tight constraints on…
We describe a new numerical algorithm to obtain high-resolution simulated maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), for a broad class of non-Gaussian models. The kind of non-Gaussianity we account for is based on the simple idea that…
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…
The extensive search for deviations from Gaussianity in cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) data is very important due to the information about the very early moments of the universe encoded there. Recent analyses from Planck CMB…
We present theoretical and observational studies of non-Gaussian fluctuations in CMB, by using the angular bispectrum and trispectrum. We predict the primary angular bispectrum from inflation, and forecast how well we can measure the…
Noncommutative geometry can provide effective description of physics at very short distances taking into account generic effects of quantum gravity. Inflation amplifies tiny quantum fluctuations in the early universe to macroscopic scales…
We describe and discuss the application of Gumbel statistics, which model extreme events, to WMAP 5-year measurements of the cosmic microwave background. We find that temperature extrema of the CMB are well modelled by the Gumbel formalism…
We present a new method based on the N-point probability distribution (pdf) to study non-Gaussianity in cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. Likelihood and Bayesian estimation are applied to a local non-linear perturbed model up to third…
We use cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from the 9-year WMAP release to derive constraints on monodromy inflation, which is characterized by a linear inflaton potential with a periodic modulation. We identify two possible periodic…
We present limits to the amplitude of non-Gaussian primordial fluctuations in the WMAP 1-year cosmic microwave background sky maps. A non-linear coupling parameter, f_NL, characterizes the amplitude of a quadratic term in the primordial…
Primordial non-Gaussianity arising from inflationary models is a unique probe of non-trivial dynamics of the inflaton field and its interactions with other fields. Often when examining and constraining the scalar non-Gaussianity arising…
Fluctuations in the intensity and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe each contain clues about the nature of the earliest moments of time. The next generation of…
We describe the subject of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) analysis - its past, present and future. The theory of Gaussian primary anisotropies, those arising from linear physics operating in the early Universe, is in reasonably good…