Simon Fraser University
SFU Cosmology Seminars

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Tuesday, 24 February 2009, 14:00 in P8445A

Prof. Adam Ritz (University of Victoria)

Probing pseudoscalar perturbations with CMB polarization

I'll discuss the use of CMB polarization as a probe of new light pseudoscalar degrees of freedom weakly coupled to photons. The stochastic pseudoscalar fluctuations generated during inflation provide a mechanism for converting E-mode polarization to B-mode during photon propagation from the surface of last scattering. The efficiency of this conversion process is controlled by the dimensionless ratio H/(2π fa), where H is the Hubble scale during inflation, and fa-1 is the strength of the pseudoscalar coupling to photons. The current observational limits on the B-mode constrain this ratio to be less than 0.07, which in many models of inflation translates to a sensitivity to values of fa in excess of 1014 GeV, surpassing the sensitivity of other tests.

Seminars in 2008:

2008-09-25 14:00 in IRMACS - Dmitri Korotkin (Concordia University): Canonical quantization of Einstein-Rosen gravitational waves with two polarizations
2008-10-02 14:00 in IRMACS - Andrei Frolov (SFU): A singularity problem with f(R) dark energy
2008-11-14 14:30 in AQ3181 - Robert Brandenberger (McGill University): String theory and the very early universe (physics colloquium)
2009-01-23 14:30 in P8445B - Fotini Markopoulou (Perimeter): Two ways to derive a spacetime in quantum gravity
2009-01-27 14:00 in P8445A - Edward Chapin (UBC): Detecting massive star-forming galaxies at z>1 using BLAST and SCUBA-2 submillimetre wavelength surveys
2009-02-03 14:00 in P8445A - Subinoy Das (UBC): Late forming dark matter
2009-02-20 14:30 in AQ3182 - Mark Trodden (Syracuse University): Gravitational approaches to cosmic acceleration (physics colloquium)
2009-02-24 14:00 in P8445A - Adam Ritz (University of Victoria): Probing pseudoscalar perturbations with CMB polarization
2009-03-03 14:00 in P8445A - John Ward (University of Victoria): Gravitational wave constraints on multi-brane inflation
2009-03-10 14:00 in P8445A - Phil Gregory (UBC): Mining for extra-solar planets with a Bayesian MCMC Kepler periodogram
2009-03-27 14:30 in AQ3182 - Suzanne Staggs (Princeton University): The impact of the last 13 billion years and of the first 10-35 seconds on the CMB (physics colloquium)
2009-05-05 14:00 in P8445B - Justin Khoury (University of Pennsylvania): Cascading gravity
2009-07-21 14:00 in P8445B - Daniele Steer (APC, Paris): Multi-field DBI inflation: primordial perturbations and non-Gaussianities

[ See complete seminar archives | iCal feed ]

Modified by Andrei Frolov <frolov@sfu.ca> on 2023-11-01