Related papers: The Fine Structure Constant and the CMB Damping Sc…
Observations of the CMB today allow us to answer detailed questions about the properties of our Universe, targeting both standard and non-standard physics. In this paper, we study the effects of varying fundamental constants (i.e., the…
Unprecedentedly precise cosmic microwave background (CMB) data are expected from ongoing and near-future CMB Stage-III and IV surveys, which will yield reconstructed CMB lensing maps with effective resolution approaching several arcminutes.…
I review recent progress towards a detailed understanding of the power spectrum of cosmic string perturbations induced on the Microwave Background (CMB). The use of a simple analytic model allows to include important effects that have not…
We introduce a methodology to test models with spatial variations of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, based on the calculation of the angular power spectrum of these measurements. This methodology enables comparisons of observations…
The damping of primordial perturbations at small scales gives rise to distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Here, the dependence of the distortion on the different types of cosmological initial conditions is explored,…
While large scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies involve a combination of the scalar and tensor fluctuations, the scalar amplitude can be independently determined through the CMB-galaxy cross-correlation. Using recently…
I review the basic theory of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies in adiabatic cold dark matter cosmologies. The latest observational results on the CMB power spectrum are consistent with the simplest inflationary models and…
We studied the role of fundamental constants in an updated recombination scenario, focusing on the time variation of the fine structure constant \alpha and the electron mass m_e in the early Universe. Using CMB data including WMAP 5-yr…
It is well known that estimating cosmological parameters from cosmic microwave background (CMB) data alone results in a significant degeneracy between the total neutrino mass and several other cosmological parameters, especially the Hubble…
We show that by combining measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), future experiments will tightly constrain the expansion rate of the universe during recombination. A change in…
Mainly used to set constraints on cosmological parameters, CMB anisotropies can give information on primordial universe. Unfortunately, initial conditions and late time cosmology are degenerated. I focus on the effect of the shape of the…
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 compute the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy in a low-density, flat, cosmological constant, cold dark matter model which is normalized to the two-year COBE DMR sky map. Although conclusions regarding model viability must…
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…
In the first part of this work, I review the theoretical framework of cosmological perturbation theory necessary to understand the generation and evolution of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. Using analytical and numerical…
We investigate the potential of observations of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure in the Universe to detect possible modifications of standard inflationary models by physics beyond the Planck…
The smaller the angular scales on which the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are probed the more important their distortion due to gravitational lensing becomes. Here we investigate the maxima and minima of the CMB…
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) have recently provided new, very precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy damping tail. The values of the cosmological parameters…
Primordial statistical anisotropy is a key indicator to investigate early Universe models and has been probed by the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. In this paper, we examine tensor-mode CMB fluctuations generated from…
We study the covariance in the angular power spectrum estimates of CMB fluctuations when the primordial fluctuations are non-Gaussian. The non-Gaussian covariance comes from a nonzero connected four-point correlation function -- or the…