Related papers: Estimating non-gaussianity in the microwave backgr…
We calculate the three-point correlation function of the comoving curvature perturbation generated during an inflationary epoch driven by false vacuum energy. We get a novel false vacuum shape bispectrum, which peaks in the equilateral…
The simplest inflationary models present us with few observable parameters to discriminate between them. A detection of features in the spectra of primordial density perturbations could provide valuable insights and lead to stringent tests…
As the quality of cosmological data continue to improve, it is natural to test the statistics of primordial fluctuations: are they Gaussian or non-Gaussian? I review a model which generates non-Gaussian adiabatic fluctuations from…
We present a new, model-independent approach for measuring non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy pattern. Our approach is based on the empirical distribution function of the normalized spherical harmonic…
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…
The primordial four-point function encodes a wealth of information about the inflationary Universe. Despite extensive theoretical work, most models of four-point physics have never been compared to data. In this series, we conduct a…
We have independently measured the genus topology of the temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background seen in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 3-year data. A genus analysis of the WMAP data indicates…
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which permeates the entire Universe, is the radiation left over from just 380,000 years after the Big Bang. On very large scales, the CMB radiation field is smooth and isotropic, but the existence of…
Inflation produces nearly Harrison-Zel'dovich scalar and tensor perturbation spectra which lead to anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The amplitudes and shapes of these spectra can be parametrized by $Q_S^2$, $r\equiv…
The 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuation from the Dark Ages ($z \simeq 30-100$) will allow us to probe the inflationary epoch on very small scales ($>0.1 \, \mbox{Mpc}^{-1}$), inaccessible to cosmic microwave background experiments.…
We introduce and study the distribution of an estimator for the normalized bispectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy. We use it to construct a goodness of fit statistic to test the coadded 53 and 90 GHz COBE-DMR 4 year…
We discuss how primordial non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbation helps to constrain models of the early universe. Observations are consistent with Gaussian initial conditions, compatible with the predictions of the simplest models of…
Observation of the cosmic microwave background is consistent with the $R^2$ model. In the $R^2$ model, there exists a dimensionless constant which must be assigned a very large value to reconcile the model with the data. We show that the…
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…
Accurately estimating the parameters of the nanohertz gravitational-wave background is essential for understanding its origin. The background is typically modeled with a power-law spectrum, parametrized with an amplitude $A$, which…
We develop a new interpolation scheme, based on harmonic inpainting, for reconstructing the cosmic microwave background temperature data within the Galaxy mask from the data outside the mask. We find that, for scale-invariant isotropic…
The population of compact extragalactic sources contribute to the non-Gaussianity at Cosmic Microwave Background frequencies. We study their non-Gaussianity using publicly available full-sky simulations. We introduce a parametrisation to…
The greatest challenge in the interpretation of galaxy clustering data from any surveys is galaxy bias. Using a simple Fisher matrix analysis, we show that the bispectrum provides an excellent determination of linear and non-linear bias…
Cosmic microwave background studies of non-Gaussianity involving higher-order multispectra can distinguish between early universe theories that predict nearly identical power spectra. However, the recovery of higher-order multispectra is…
We have recently shown that multi-field axion N-flation can lead to observable non-gaussianity in much of its parameter range, with the assisted inflation mechanism ensuring that the density perturbations are sufficiently close to scale…