Related papers: A new constraint on the $y$-distortion with FIRAS:…

This paper presents a novel approach to constrain the $\mu$- and y- distortions in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) using the COBE/FIRAS data. The analysis draws from the concept of blackbody radiation inversion (BRI), a mathematical…

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) energy spectrum is a near-perfect blackbody. The standard model of cosmology predicts small spectral distortions to this form, but no such distortion of the sky-averaged CMB spectrum has yet been…

High-significance measurements of the monopole thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich CMB spectral distortions have the potential to tightly constrain poorly understood baryonic feedback processes. The sky-averaged Compton-y distortion and its…

We analyze the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy data from the independent COBE FIRAS and DMR observations. We extract the frequency spectrum of the FIRAS signal that has the spatial distribution seen by DMR and show that it is…

Deviations from the blackbody spectral energy distribution of the CMB are a precise probe of physical processes active both in the early universe (such as those connected to particle decays and inflation) and at later times (e.g.…

The $y$-type distortion of the blackbody spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation probes the pressure of the gas trapped in galaxy groups and clusters. We reanalyze archival data of the FIRAS instrument with an improved…

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…

The thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect is the distortion generated in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum by the inverse-Compton scattering of CMB photons off free, energetic electrons, primarily located in the intracluster…

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 Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect is the inverse Compton-scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons by hot electrons in the intervening gas throughout the universe. The effect has a distinct spectral signature that allows its…

Observations of the millimeter sky contain valuable information on a number of signals, including the blackbody cosmic microwave background (CMB), Galactic emissions, and the Compton-$y$ distortion due to the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich…

In the early Universe, energy stored in small-scale density perturbations is quickly dissipated by Silk-damping, a process that inevitably generates mu- and y-type spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). These…

Departures of the energy spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from a perfect blackbody probe a fundamental property of the universe -- its thermal history. Current upper limits, dating back some 25 years, limit such spectral…

We have refined the analysis of the data from the FIRAS (Far InfraRed Absolute Spectrophotometer) on board the COBE (COsmic Background Explorer). The FIRAS measures the difference between the cosmic microwave background and a precise…

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…

We review aspects of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) spectral distortions which do not appear to have been fully explored in the literature. In particular, implications of recent evidences of heating of the intergalactic medium (IGM) by…

Since the measurements of COBE/FIRAS in the mid-90's we know that the energy spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is extremely close to that of a perfect blackbody at an average temperature T0~2.726K. However, a number of…

The cosmic microwave background $B$-mode signal is potentially weaker than the diffuse Galactic foregrounds over most of the sky at any frequency. A common method of separating the CMB from these foregrounds is via pixel-based…

In this paper, we provide the first computations for the distortion transfer functions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in the perturbed Universe, following up on paper I and II in this series. We illustrate the physical effects…

If they exist, networks of superconducting cosmic strings are capable of injecting copious amounts of electromagnetic energy into the background over a broad range of frequencies. We study this injection both analytically, as well as…