CMB Lensing and the WMAP Cold Spot

Abstract

Cosmologists have suggested a number of intriguing hypotheses for the origin of the "WMAP cold spot", the coldest extended region seen in the CMB sky, including a very large void and a collapsing texture. Either hypothesis predicts a distinctive CMB lensing signal. We show that the upcoming generation of high resolution CMB experiments such as ACT and SPT should be able to detect the signatures of either textures or large voids. If either signal is detected, it would have profound implications for cosmology.

5 pages, 2 figures, a bug in Fig.2 fixed

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• Planck 2013 results. XXIII. Isotropy and statistics of the CMB
• Weak lensing of the CMB
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• Can a supervoid explain the Cold Spot?
• A comprehensive overview of the Cold Spot
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• Some statistical remarks on the Giant GRB Ring
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• Faraday Rotation as a diagnostic of Galactic foreground contamination of CMB maps
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• CMB Lensing and Giant Rings
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