Related papers: A Hydrodynamical Approach to CMB mu-distortions
We calculate numerical solutions and analytic approximations for the intermediate-type spectral distortions. Detection of a \mu-type distortion (saturated comptonization) in the CMB will constrain the time of energy injection to be at a…
Cosmic string loops contain cusps which decay by emitting bursts of particles. A significant fraction of the released energy is in the form of photons. These photons are injected non-thermally and can hence cause spectral distortions of the…
Diffusion damping of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum results from imperfect photon-baryon coupling in the pre-recombination plasma. At redshift $5 \times 10^4 < z < 2 \times 10^6$, the plasma acquires an effective…
We compute the spectral distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization induced by non-linear effects in the Compton interactions between CMB photons and cold intergalactic electrons. This signal is of the $y$-type and is…
Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are discussed, with particular emphasis on current ground-based experiments and on future satellite, balloon and interferometer experiments. Observational techniques and the effects of…
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…
The recent Planck data on the power spectrum of temperature anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background marginally support deviations from the $\Lambda$CDM model at several multipoles. With a view towards current and forthcoming…
The 2.725 K cosmic microwave background has played a key role in the development of modern cosmology by providing a solid observational foundation for constraining possible theories of what happened at very large redshifts and theoretical…
Gravitational wave bursts with memory (BWMs) can generate measurable, long-lived frequency shifts and permanent angular deflections in distant sources of light. These perturbations vary across the sky with a characteristic spatial pattern…
In this thesis we investigate several aspects related to the theory of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background. We develop a new algorithm to calculate the angular power spectrum of the anisotropies which is two orders of magnitude…
We study the fluctuation-dissipation relation for sound waves in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), employing effective field theory (EFT) for fluctuating hydrodynamics. Treating sound waves as the linear response to thermal radiation,…
We present a 1+3 covariant discussion of the contribution of gravitational waves to the anisotropy of the CMB in an almost-Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe. Our discussion is based in the covariant approach to perturbations in cosmology,…
Fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature are being studied with ever increasing precision. Two competing types of theories might describe the origins of these fluctuations: ``inflation'' and ``defects''. Here we…
Spectral distortions and anisotropies of the CMB provide independent and complementary probes to study energy injection processes in the early universe. Here we discuss the synergy between these observables, and show the promising future of…
Primordial tensor modes can induce Cosmic Microwave Background spectral distortions during horizon re-entry. We investigate a specific mechanism proposed for this purpose, characterized by the coupling of an SU(2) gauge field to an axion…
One of the most spectacular scientific breakthroughs in past decades was using measurements of the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to test precisely our understanding of the history and composition of the Universe.…
We propose a new mechanism by which dark matter (DM) can affect the early universe. The hot interior of a macroscopic DM, or macro, can behave as a heat reservoir so that energetic photons are emitted from its surface. This results in…
Through analytic techniques verified by numerical calculations, we establish general relations between the matter and cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra and their dependence on cosmological parameters on small scales.…
The physics of the origin and evolution of CMB anisotropies is described. I explain the idea and status of cosmic parameter estimation and follow it up with critical comments on its dependence on model assumptions and initial conditions.
Distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background energy spectrum of the $\mu$ type are sensitive to the primordial power spectrum through the dissipation of curvature perturbations on scales $k\simeq 50$ - $10^4\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$. Their…