Features in the primordial power spectrum: constraints from the CMB and the limitation of the 2dF and SDSS redshift surveys to detect them

Abstract

We allow a more general (step-function) form of the primordial power spectrum than the usual featureless power-law Harrison--Zeldovich (with spectral index n=1) power spectrum, and fit it to the latest Cosmic Microwave Background data sets. Although the best-fitting initial power spectrum can differ significantly from the power-law shape, and contains a bump at scales k ~ 0.003 h/Mpc, we find Omega_m to be approximately 0.24, consistent with previous analyses that assume power-law initial fluctuations. We also explore the feasibility of the 2dF and SDSS galaxy redshifts surveys to observe these features, and we find that even if features exist in the primoridal power spectrum, they are washed out by the window functions of the redshift surveys on scales k< 0.03 h/Mpc.

7 pages, 6 figures. Revised version, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Some typos have been corrected, Fig.2 and Fig.6 have been modified, some comments about normalization added to the conclusions section

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