THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND from Quantum Fluctuations to the Present Universe

Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-69561-0 - The Cosmic Microwave Background: From Quantum Fluctuations to the Present Universe: XIX Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics Edited by J. A. Rubiño-Martín, R. Rebolo and E. Mediavilla Frontmatter More information

THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND From Quantum Fluctuations to the Present Universe

This volume presents the lectures of the nineteenth Canary Islands Winter School, ded- icated to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This relic radiation from the very early Universe provides a fundamental tool for precision cosmology. Prestigious researchers in the ﬁeld present a comprehensive overview of current knowledge of the CMB, reviewing the theoretical foundations, the main observational results, and the most advanced statistical techniques used in this discipline. The lectures give coverage from the basic principles to the most recent research results, reviewing state-of-the-art observational and statistical analysis techniques. The impact of new experiments and the constraints imposed on cosmological parameters are emphasized and put into the broader context of research in cosmology. This is an important resource both for graduate students and for experienced researchers, revealing the spectacular progress that has been made in the study of the CMB within the last decade.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-69561-0 - The Cosmic Microwave Background: From Quantum Fluctuations to the Present Universe: XIX Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics Edited by J. A. Rubiño-Martín, R. Rebolo and E. Mediavilla Frontmatter More information

Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics

Volume XIX Editor in Chief F. S´anchez, Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias

Previous books in this series

I. Solar Physics II. Physical and Observational Cosmology III. Star Formation in Stellar Systems IV. Infrared Astronomy V. The Formation of Galaxies VI. The Structure of the Sun VII. Instrumentation for Large Telescopes: a Course for Astronomers VIII. Stellar Astrophysics for the Local Group: a First Step to the Universe IX. Astrophysics with Large Databases in the Internet Age X. Globular Clusters XI. Galaxies at High Redshift XII. Astrophysical Spectropolarimetry XIII. Cosmochemistry: the Melting Pot of Elements XIV. Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe XV. Payload and Mission Deﬁnition in Space Sciences XVI. Extrasolar Planets XVII. 3D Spectroscopy in Astronomy XVIII. The Emission-Line Universe

Participants of the XIX Canaray Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, together with the lecturers of the ﬁrst week, in front of the Congress Center in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.

Same as above, but with the lecturers of the second week.

THECOSMICMICROWAVE BACKGROUND: FROM QUANTUM FLUCTUATIONS TO THE PRESENT UNIVERSE XIX Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics

Edited by J. A. RUBINO-MART˜ ´IN, R. REBOLO AND E. MEDIAVILLA Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, Tenerife

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City

Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107695610

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2010 First paperback edition 2013

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-521-76453-7 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-69561-0 Paperback

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Contents

List of contributors page viii

List of participants ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

1 CMB Observations and cosmological constraints 1 R. Bruce Partridge

2 The inﬂationary universe 40 Sabino Matarrese

3 CMB theory from nucleosynthesis to recombination 70 Wayne Hu

4 CMB ﬂuctuations in the post-recombination Universe 108 Matthias Bartelmann

5 Statistical techniques for data analysis in cosmology 128 Licia Verde

6 Gaussianity 161 Enrique Mart´ınez-Gonz´alez

7 Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds 192 Rodney D. Davies

8 Probes of fundamental cosmology 227 Malcolm Longair

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Contributors

Matthias Bartelmann, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Heidelberg, Germany Rod D. Davies, Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Manchester, UK Wayne Hu, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Malcolm Longair, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK Enrique Mart´ınez-Gonzalez´ , Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria, Santander, Spain Sabino Matarrese, Universita degli Studi di Padova and INFN Sezione di Padova, Padova, Italy Bruce Partridge, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, USA Licia Verde, Institute of Space Sciences (ICE) IEEC/CSIC, Barcelona, Spain

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Participants

Participants (students and lecturers) of the XIX Canary Islands Winter School, held in Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain), from 19 November to 30 November 2007

Aich, Moumita IUCAA, India Bartelmann, Matthias Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Germany Beltrán Jiménez, José Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Bessada, Dennis INPE – National Institute for Space Research, Brazil Bottino, Maria-Paola Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Germany Buitrago Alonso, Fernando University of Nottingham, UK Catalano, Andrea Observatoire de Paris, France Cruz Rodr´ıguez, Marcos Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Spain Cruz-Dombriz, Alvaro Universidad Complutense de Madrid, SPAIN Cuesta Vazquez, Antonio Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Spain Curto Mart´ın, Andrés Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Spain Dantas, Maria Aldinêz Observatório Nacional – MCT, Brasil Davies, Rod D. University of Manchester, UK Fauvet, Lauranne Université Joseph Fourier, France Flores Cacho, Inés Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, Spain Font Ribera, Andreu Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE-CSIC), Spain Fraisse, Aurelien Princeton University, USA Franzen, Thomas University of Cambridge, UK Galaverni, Matteo INAF-IASF Bologna / Ferrara University, Italy Génova Santos, Ricardo University of Cambridge, UK Ghosh, Tuhin IUCAA, India Groeneboom, Nicolaas University of Oslo, Norway Gruppuso, Alessandro INAF- IASF BO, Italy Hildebrandt, Sergi Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain Hu, Wayne University of Chicago, USA Jagannathan, Preshanth University Würzburg / IUCAA, Germany Jiménez, Raúl Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (IEEC/CSIC), Spain Jiménez Teja, Yolanda Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Andaluc´ıa (CSIC), Spain Kristiansen, Jostein University of Oslo, Norway Lanz Oca, Luis Fernando Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Spain Le Jeune, Maude AstroParticule et Cosmologie Paris VII, France Longair, Malcolm University of Cambridge, UK López-Caniego, Marcos University of Cambridge, UK ix

x Participants Mangilli, Anna Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Italy Mart´ınez Glez, Enrique Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria, Spain Matarrese, Sabino Universitá di Padova, Italy Miranda Ocejo, B. Selene Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México Molino Benito, Alberto Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Spain Muya Kasanda, Simon University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Paci, Francesco University of Bologna / INAF–IASF Bologna, Italy Padilla-Torres, Carmen P. Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, Spain Partridge, Bruce Haverford College, USA Quealy, Erin University of California Berkeley, USA Rebolo, Rafael Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, LOC Rubiño-Mart´ın, Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, LOC José Alberto Ruiz-Granados, Beatriz Universidad de Granada, Spain Sánchez Colin, Angel Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria, Spain Trigueros Páez, Emilio University of La Laguna, Spain Tucci, Marco Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain Verde, Licia Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (IEEC/CSIC), Spain Wong, Wan Yan University of British Columbia, Canada

Preface

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is one of the basic pillars of modern cosmology. Discovered in 1965 by A. A. Penzias and R. W. Wilson, it was soon recognized as evidence of cosmic evolution. At some time in the remote past, our Universe went through a very hot phase where matter and radiation were in very intense interaction. The CMB is a relict of the Big Bang that pervades the Universe as the major contributor to the energy density of radiation. It offers an image of how the Universe was at the age of 380 000 y, long before the formation of the very first stars and galaxies. The discovery of the CMB led to the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1978. The accurate measurement of the CMB spectral energy distribution, a (nearly) perfect blackbody curve, and the detection in 1992 of anisotropies of cosmological origin by NASA’s COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) resulted in the award of the Nobel Prize to J. C. Mather and G. F. Smoot in 2006. Soon after the discovery of the CMB it was understood that small matter/energy density fluctuations in the very early Universe, the seeds of the large structures we see today (galaxies, clusters, voids and superclusters), should have imprinted small temperature differences in this radiation. For decades the experimental search for the expected tiny temperature anisotropies only led to upper limits (e.g. the Tenerife Experiment). In 1992, COBE’s discovery of CMB anisotropies on large scales provided strong support for inflationary Big Bang models and to the gravitational instability scenario for the development of structures in the Universe. The precise measurement of the inten- sity of the radiation along different lines of sight showed small amplitude fluctuations of the order of one part in 100 000 that are extremely important in understanding the global properties of the Universe. More recently, measurement of the CMB angular power spectrum has become an essential tool for cosmology. With the latest results from ground-based and balloon-borne experiments (e.g. BOOMERanG, MAXIMA, VSA, CBI, DASI, ARCHEOPS, ACBAR) and especially from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, it is now possible to constrain the cosmological parameters describing the Standard Cosmological Model with an accuracy better than 5 percent. This field is still evolving very rapidly and in the coming years we shall certainly see significant progress. For instance, the launch of the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite will be a major step forward. Its sensitivity will improve accuracy in the determination of cosmological parameters, getting close to 1%. Another experimental path that Planck and the next generation of experiments will pursue is the study of CMB polarization. In the Standard Model the CMB is lin- early polarized, Thomson scattering during recombination being the physical mechanism responsible for this polarization. One of the key goals in the study of CMB polarization is the detection of rotational modes (also known as B-modes) in the maps. Vector and tensor perturbations, such as those due to gravitational waves in the primordial Universe, are the only known mechanisms that could generate B-modes in the CMB polarization on large angular scales. These modes offer a unique way of carrying out a detailed study of the inflationary epoch. However, their detection represents an enormous effort in observational cosmology since it will be necessary to measure a large portion of the sky with extremely sensitive radiometers and bolometers with small and well-defined systematic effects. Likewise, it will also imply an important effort in our understanding of Galactic emission. Polarized Galactic foregrounds are not yet sufficiently well known to be adequately subtracted from the CMB polar signal and they must be mea- sured and mapped to a sufficient level in order not to cause confusion in cosmological measurements. xi

xii Preface In The Cosmic Microwave Background: From Quantum Fluctuations to the Present Universe, eight world experts review the observational and theoretical status of CMB research, offering an updated and rigorous introduction to the field. This includes the theoretical basis of the generation of quantum perturbations in the inflationary Universe and the production of CMB anisotropies, and the experimental effort to measure its properties accurately, including state-of-the-art experimental and data analysis techniques, as well as an introduction to our current knowledge of Galactic emission. This is comple- mented by a review of other major observational results in cosmology. Doctoral (Ph.D.) students and researchers in cosmology will find this compendium of lectures a valuable tool for understanding the basic aspects of the CMB.

The Editors La Laguna, Tenerife

Acknowledgments

The editors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the lecturers for their partic- ipation in the XIX Canary Islands Winter School. Those two weeks (November 19–30, 2007) were a memorable experience for us and for all the students. This was not only our impression but the written opinion that we collected from them at the end of the school. Special thanks also to Raúl Jiménez for the preparation and realization of two tutorials during the School, which were devoted to the use of “standard software tools” in CMB research. The list of activities which were carried out during those tutorials is summarized at the end of Chapter 5 in the book. We also wish to thank to all IAC people who made this school possible. First of all, to Nieves Villoslada, because of her diligence and help during all stages of the preparation and the celebration of the event. Her colleague Lourdes González was also very helpful on several occasions. We thank to Jorge Andrés Pérez Prieto for his help in the preparation of the Winter School website. The school poster was prepared by Ramón Castro and Gabriel Pérez. Carmen del Puerto, Natalia R. Zelman, Iván Jiménez, Miguel Briganti (SMM/IAC) and Terry Mahoney did an excellent work in making possible a very suc- cessful Press (or should we say “pressing”?) Room during the School. All the interviews, press releases and videos are available at the IAC website (see Educational Outreach area at http://www.iac.es, and also http://www.iac.es/winters/2007/winschool2007/ Index07.htm). Finally, we also acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC), the Cabildo de Tenerife and the Gobierno de Canarias. In the scientific part, some of the images of this book made use of the HEALPIX software package (Gorski et al., 2005; Astrophys. J. 622, 759; website http://healpix. jpl.nasa.gov). This was a very useful tool also during the three tutorials that we had in the Winter School. We also acknowledge the use of the Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA) during these tutorials. Support for LAMBDA is provided by the NASA Office of Space Science.

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