Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2003-10-24
Phys.Rev. D69 (2004) 063002
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
14 pages, 3 figures, minor changes matching the version to be published in Phys. Rev. D
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevD.69.063002
We consider a novel contribution to the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background induced by vector and tensor modes generated by the non-linear evolution of primordial scalar perturbations. Our calculation is based on relativistic second-order perturbation theory and allows to estimate the effects of these secondary modes on the polarization angular power-spectra. We show that a non-vanishing B-mode polarization unavoidably arises from pure scalar initial perturbations, thus limiting our ability to detect the signature of primordial gravitational waves generated during inflation. This secondary effect dominates over that of primordial tensors for an inflationary tensor-to-scalar ratio $r<10^{-6}$. The magnitude of the effect is smaller than the contamination produced by the conversion of polarization of type E into type B, by weak gravitational lensing. However the lensing signal can be cleaned, making the secondary modes discussed here the actual background limiting the detection of small amplitude primordial gravitational waves.
Harari Diego
Matarrese Sabino
Mollerach Silvia
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