Considerations in optimizing CMB polarization experiments to constrain inflationary physics

Details Considerations in optimizing CMB polarization experiments to constrain inflationary physics Considerations in optimizing CMB polarization experiments to constrain inflationary physics

2005-06-02

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0506036v3

JCAP 0601:019,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

20 pages, 6 figures, replaced with accepted version

Scientific paper

10.1088/1475-7516/2006/01/019

We quantify the limiting factors in optimizing current-technology cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments in order to learn about inflationary physics. We consider space-based, balloon-borne and ground-based experiments. We find that foreground contamination and residuals from foreground subtraction are ultimately the limiting factors in detecting a primordial gravity wave signal. For full-sky space-based experiments, these factors hinder the detection of tensor-to-scalar ratios of r < 10^{-3} on large scales, while for ground-based experiments these factors impede the ability to apply delensing techniques. We consider ground-based/balloon-borne experiments of currently planned or proposed designs and find that it is possible for a value of r=0.01 to be measured at ~ 3-sigma level. A small space-based CMB polarization experiment, with current detector technology and full sky coverage, can detect r ~ 10^{-3} at the ~ 3-sigma level, but a markedly improved knowledge of polarized foregrounds is needed. We advocate using as wide a frequency coverage as possible in order to carry out foreground subtraction at the percent level, which is necessary to measure such a small primordial tensor amplitude. To produce a clearly detectable (>3-sigma) tensor component in a realistic CMB experiment, inflation must either involve large-field variations, \Delta\phi >~ 1 or multi-field/hybrid models. Hybrid models can be easily distinguished from large-field models due to their blue scalar spectral index. Therefore, an observation of a tensor/scalar ratio and n < 1 in future experiments with the characteristics considered here may be an indication that inflation is being driven by some physics in which the inflaton cannot be described as a fundamental field.

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