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How Much Can We Learn about the Physics of Inflation?

Scott Dodelson
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 191301 – Published 12 May 2014
Physics logo See Focus story: Theorists Weigh in on BICEP2

Abstract

The recent BICEP2 measurement of B modes in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background suggests that inflation was driven by a field at an energy scale of 2×1016GeV. I explore the potential of upcoming cosmic microwave radiation polarization experiments to further constrain the physics underlying inflation. If the signal is confirmed, then two sets of experiments covering a large area will shed light on inflation. Low-resolution measurements can pin down the tensor to scalar ratio at the percent level, thereby distinguishing models from one another. A high angular resolution experiment will be necessary to measure the tilt of the tensor spectrum, testing the consistency relation that relates the tilt to the amplitude.

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  • Received 4 April 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.191301

© 2014 American Physical Society

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Theorists Weigh in on BICEP2

Published 19 June 2014

Several theorists discuss the next steps for testing inflation theory following the BICEP2 observations of polarization in the cosmic microwave background.

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Authors & Affiliations

Scott Dodelson

  • Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510-0500, USA
  • Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

See Also

Inflationary Tensor Perturbations after BICEP2

Jerod Caligiuri and Arthur Kosowsky
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 191302 (2014)

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Vol. 112, Iss. 19 — 16 May 2014

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