Can Planck-scale physics be seen in the cosmic microwave background ?

Abstract

We investigate the potential of observations of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure in the Universe to detect possible modifications of standard inflationary models by physics beyond the Planck scale. A generic model of primordial density fluctuations is investigated, and we derive constraints on its parameters from current data. We conclude that the currently available data do not put very stringent constraints on this model. Furthermore, we use simulated power spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Planck satellite to show that it is unlikely that a trans-Planckian signature of this type can be detected in CMB and large-scale structure data.

8 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (5)

• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters
• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Preliminary Maps and Basic Results
• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) First Year Observations: TE Polarization
• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Angular Power Spectrum
• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Parameter Estimation Methodology

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• Inflation as a probe of new physics
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• A general condition of inflationary cosmology on trans-Planckian physics
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