• Editors' Suggestion

Improved Constraints on Cosmology and Foregrounds from BICEP2 and Keck Array Cosmic Microwave Background Data with Inclusion of 95 GHz Band

P. A. R. Ade et al. (Keck Array and BICEP2 Collaborations)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 031302 – Published 20 January 2016
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

We present results from an analysis of all data taken by the BICEP2 and Keck Array cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments up to and including the 2014 observing season. This includes the first Keck Array observations at 95 GHz. The maps reach a depth of 50 nK deg in Stokes Q and U in the 150 GHz band and 127 nK deg in the 95 GHz band. We take auto- and cross-spectra between these maps and publicly available maps from WMAP and Planck at frequencies from 23 to 353 GHz. An excess over lensed ΛCDM is detected at modest significance in the 95×150 BB spectrum, and is consistent with the dust contribution expected from our previous work. No significant evidence for synchrotron emission is found in spectra such as 23×95, or for correlation between the dust and synchrotron sky patterns in spectra such as 23×353. We take the likelihood of all the spectra for a multicomponent model including lensed ΛCDM, dust, synchrotron, and a possible contribution from inflationary gravitational waves (as parametrized by the tensor-to-scalar ratio r) using priors on the frequency spectral behaviors of dust and synchrotron emission from previous analyses of WMAP and Planck data in other regions of the sky. This analysis yields an upper limit r0.05<0.09 at 95% confidence, which is robust to variations explored in analysis and priors. Combining these B-mode results with the (more model-dependent) constraints from Planck analysis of CMB temperature plus baryon acoustic oscillations and other data yields a combined limit r0.05<0.07 at 95% confidence. These are the strongest constraints to date on inflationary gravitational waves.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
1 More
  • Received 2 November 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.031302

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Click to Expand

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 116, Iss. 3 — 22 January 2016

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
CHORUS

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×