Abstract
The recent BICEP2 measurement of modes in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background suggests that inflation was driven by a field at an energy scale of . 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.
- Received 4 April 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.191301
© 2014 American Physical Society
Focus
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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