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Published June 9, 2009 | Published
Book Section - Chapter Open

Probing Inflation with CMB Polarization

Abstract

We summarize the utility of precise cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization measurements as probes of the physics of inflation. We focus on the prospects for using CMB measurements to differentiate various inflationary mechanisms. In particular, a detection of primordial B‐mode polarization would demonstrate that inflation occurred at a very high energy scale, and that the inflaton traversed a super‐Planckian distance in field space. We explain how such a detection or constraint would illuminate aspects of physics at the Planck scale. Moreover, CMB measurements can constrain the scale‐dependence and non‐Gaussianity of the primordial fluctuations and limit the possibility of a significant isocurvature contribution. Each such limit provides crucial information on the underlying inflationary dynamics. Finally, we quantify these considerations by presenting forecasts for the sensitivities of a future satellite experiment to the inflationary parameters.

Additional Information

© 2009 American Institute of Physics. Published online 09 June 2009. The research of the Inflation Working Group was partly funded by NASA Mission Concept Study award NNX08AT71G S01. We also acknowledge the organizational work of the Primordial Polarization Program Definition Team.

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