Analysis of the Fourier Mode Phase Distribution in the CMB as a Test of Inflation Theory

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have provided a wealth of information about the contents, evolution, and beginnings of the universe. One key component of the CMB is its temperature anisotropies, which support a fundamental assumption of inflation theory: that these fluctuations are quantum-mechanical in origin and have stretched to the size of the observable universe. This leads to the prediction that the phases of the Fourier mode decomposition of the CMB in a co-moving gauge are randomly distributed. Assuming a robust model for reconstructing the inflationary potential, we provide a method for extracting this phase distribution from CMB modes. We further provide preliminary analysis of this distribution.

Type of resource	text
Date created	June 7, 2018

Author	McCune, Amara
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Physics
Primary advisor	Blandford, Roger
Advisor	Abel, Tom

Subject	Cosmic Microwave Background
Subject	Inflation Theory
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/ns903by9803

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Amara McCune. (2018). Analysis of the Fourier Mode Phase Distribution in the CMB as a Test of Inflation Theory. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/ns903by9803

Undergraduate Theses, Department of Physics

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