New constraints on inflation from the cosmic microwave background

William H. Kinney, Alessandro Melchiorri, and Antonio Riotto
Phys. Rev. D 63, 023505 – Published 27 December 2000
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Abstract

The recent data from the BOOMERANG and MAXIMA1 balloon flights have marked the beginning of the precision era of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy measurements. We investigate the observational constraints from the current CMB anisotropy measurements on the simplest inflation models, characterized by a single scalar field φ, in the parameter space consisting of scalar spectral index nS and tensor/scalar ratio r. If we include constraints on the baryon density from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), we show that the favored inflationary models have a negligible tensor amplitude and a red tilt, with a best fit of nS0.93, which is consistent with the simplest small-field inflation models, but rules out large-field models at the 1σ level. Without including BBN constraints, a broader range of models is consistent with the data. The best fit (assuming negligible reionization) is a scale-invariant spectrum, nS1, which includes large-field and hybrid scenarios. Large-field models (such as those typical of the chaotic inflation scenario) with a tilt nS<0.9 are strongly disfavored in all cases.

  • Received 26 July 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.63.023505

©2000 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

William H. Kinney*

  • Department of Physics, University of Florida, P.O. Box 118440, Gainesville, Florida 32611

Alessandro Melchiorri

  • Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá la Sapienza, Rome, Italy

Antonio Riotto

  • Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, Pisa I-56126, Italy

  • *Email address: kinney@phys.ufl.edu
  • Email address: Alessandro.Melchiorri@roma2.infn.it
  • Email address: riotto@cibs.sns.it

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Issue

Vol. 63, Iss. 2 — 15 January 2001

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