21-cm Lensing and the Cold Spot in the Cosmic Microwave Background

Abstract

An extremely large void and a cosmic texture are two possible explanations for the cold spot seen in the cosmic microwave background. We investigate how well these two hypotheses can be tested with weak lensing of 21-cm fluctuations from the epoch of reionization (EoR) measured with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). While the void explanation for the cold spot can be tested with SKA, given enough observation time, the texture scenario requires significantly prolonged observations, at the highest frequencies that correspond to the EoR, over the field of view containing the cold spot.

4 pages, 1 figure; typos fixed, clarifications made; version as published in PRL

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Detection of a Supervoid Aligned with the Cold Spot of the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Can a supervoid explain the Cold Spot?
• To the center of cold spot with Planck
• On the Abundance of Extreme Voids
• Large-Distance Lens Uncertainties and Time-Delay Measurements of $H_0$
• The CMB Derivatives of Planck's Beam Asymmetry