Tensor Non-Gaussianity Search: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

Primordial gravitational waves (GWs) are said to be a smoking gun in cosmic inflation, while, even if they are detected, the specification of their origins are still required for establishing a true inflationary model. Testing non-Gaussianity in the tensor-mode anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is one of the most powerful ways to identify sources of GW signals. In this paper, we review studies searching for tensor non-Gaussianities employing the CMB bispectrum and forecast future developments. No significant signal has so far been found from temperature and E-mode polarization data, while orders-of-magnitude improvements in detection limits can be achieved by adding the information of B-mode polarization. There is already an established methodology for bispectrum estimation, which encourages a follow-up investigation with next-decadal CMB B-mode surveys.

19 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; invited review for special issue "Status and Prospects of Cosmic Microwave Background Analysis" on Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences

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