Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on cosmic birefringence

Toshiya Namikawa; Yilun Guan; Omar Darwish; Blake D. Sherwin; Simone Aiola; Nicholas Battaglia; James A. Beall; Daniel T. Becker; J. Richard Bond; Erminia Calabrese; Grace E. Chesmore; Steve K. Choi; Mark J. Devlin; Joanna Dunkley; Rolando Dünner; Anna E. Fox; Patricio A. Gallardo; Vera Gluscevic; Dongwon Han; Matthew Hasselfield; Gene C. Hilton; Adam D. Hincks; Reneé HloŽek; Johannes Hubmayr; Kevin Huffenberger; John P. Hughes; Brian J. Koopman; Arthur Kosowsky; Thibaut Louis; Marius Lungu; Amanda Macinnis; Mathew S. Madhavacheril; Maya Mallaby-Kay; Loïc Maurin; Jeffrey Mcmahon; Kavilan Moodley; Sigurd Naess; Federico Nati; Laura B. Newburgh; John P. Nibarger; Michael D. Niemack; Lyman A. Page; Frank J. Qu; Naomi Robertson; Alessandro Schillaci; Neelima Sehgal; Cristóbal Sifón; Sara M. Simon; David N. Spergel; Suzanne T. Staggs; Emilie R. Storer; Alexander Van Engelen; Jeff Van Lanen; Edward J. Wollack

doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527

Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on cosmic birefringence

Toshiya Namikawa
, Yilun Guan
, Omar Darwish
, Blake D. Sherwin
, Simone Aiola
, Nicholas Battaglia
, James A. Beall
, Daniel T. Becker
, J. Richard Bond
, Erminia Calabrese
, Grace E. Chesmore
, Steve K. Choi
, Mark J. Devlin
, Joanna Dunkley
, Rolando Dünner
, Anna E. Fox
, Patricio A. Gallardo
, Vera Gluscevic
, Dongwon Han
, Matthew Hasselfield

Gene C. Hilton, Adam D. Hincks, Reneé HloŽek, Johannes Hubmayr, Kevin Huffenberger, John P. Hughes, Brian J. Koopman, Arthur Kosowsky, Thibaut Louis, Marius Lungu, Amanda Macinnis, Mathew S. Madhavacheril, Maya Mallaby-Kay, Loïc Maurin, Jeffrey Mcmahon, Kavilan Moodley, Sigurd Naess, Federico Nati, Laura B. Newburgh, John P. Nibarger, Michael D. Niemack, Lyman A. Page, Frank J. Qu, Naomi Robertson, Alessandro Schillaci, Neelima Sehgal, Cristóbal Sifón, Sara M. Simon, David N. Spergel, Suzanne T. Staggs, Emilie R. Storer, Alexander Van Engelen, Jeff Van Lanen, Edward J. Wollack

Physics and Astronomy

University of Cambridge
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Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
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Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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University of KwaZulu-Natal
University of Milan - Bicocca
California Institute of Technology
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Arizona State University
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present new constraints on anisotropic birefringence of the cosmic microwave background polarization using two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope covering 456 square degrees of sky. The birefringence power spectrum, measured using a curved-sky quadratic estimator, is consistent with zero. Our results provide the tightest current constraint on birefringence over a range of angular scales between 5 arc minutes and 9°. We improve previous upper limits on the amplitude of a scale-invariant birefringence power spectrum by a factor of between 2 and 3. Assuming a nearly massless axion field during inflation, our result is equivalent to a 2σ upper limit on the Chern-Simons coupling constant between axions and photons of gαγ<4.0×10-2/HI, where HI is the inflationary Hubble scale.

Original language	English
Article number	083527
Journal	Physical Review D
Volume	101
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527
State	Published - Apr 15 2020

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10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527

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Namikawa, T., Guan, Y., Darwish, O., Sherwin, B. D., Aiola, S., Battaglia, N., Beall, J. A., Becker, D. T., Bond, J. R., Calabrese, E., Chesmore, G. E., Choi, S. K., Devlin, M. J., Dunkley, J., Dünner, R., Fox, A. E., Gallardo, P. A., Gluscevic, V., Han, D., ... Wollack, E. J. (2020). Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on cosmic birefringence. Physical Review D, 101(8), Article 083527. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527

@article{11e9f266f5744b00b297f7b42f21f66d,

title = "Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on cosmic birefringence",

abstract = "We present new constraints on anisotropic birefringence of the cosmic microwave background polarization using two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope covering 456 square degrees of sky. The birefringence power spectrum, measured using a curved-sky quadratic estimator, is consistent with zero. Our results provide the tightest current constraint on birefringence over a range of angular scales between 5 arc minutes and 9°. We improve previous upper limits on the amplitude of a scale-invariant birefringence power spectrum by a factor of between 2 and 3. Assuming a nearly massless axion field during inflation, our result is equivalent to a 2σ upper limit on the Chern-Simons coupling constant between axions and photons of gαγ<4.0×10-2/HI, where HI is the inflationary Hubble scale.",

author = "Toshiya Namikawa and Yilun Guan and Omar Darwish and Sherwin, \{Blake D.\} and Simone Aiola and Nicholas Battaglia and Beall, \{James A.\} and Becker, \{Daniel T.\} and Bond, \{J. Richard\} and Erminia Calabrese and Chesmore, \{Grace E.\} and Choi, \{Steve K.\} and Devlin, \{Mark J.\} and Joanna Dunkley and Rolando D{\"u}nner and Fox, \{Anna E.\} and Gallardo, \{Patricio A.\} and Vera Gluscevic and Dongwon Han and Matthew Hasselfield and Hilton, \{Gene C.\} and Hincks, \{Adam D.\} and Rene{\'e} Hlo{\v Z}ek and Johannes Hubmayr and Kevin Huffenberger and Hughes, \{John P.\} and Koopman, \{Brian J.\} and Arthur Kosowsky and Thibaut Louis and Marius Lungu and Amanda Macinnis and Madhavacheril, \{Mathew S.\} and Maya Mallaby-Kay and Lo{\"i}c Maurin and Jeffrey Mcmahon and Kavilan Moodley and Sigurd Naess and Federico Nati and Newburgh, \{Laura B.\} and Nibarger, \{John P.\} and Niemack, \{Michael D.\} and Page, \{Lyman A.\} and Qu, \{Frank J.\} and Naomi Robertson and Alessandro Schillaci and Neelima Sehgal and Crist{\'o}bal Sif{\'o}n and Simon, \{Sara M.\} and Spergel, \{David N.\} and Staggs, \{Suzanne T.\} and Storer, \{Emilie R.\} and \{Van Engelen\}, Alexander and \{Van Lanen\}, Jeff and Wollack, \{Edward J.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 American Physical Society.",

year = "2020",

month = apr,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527",

language = "English",

volume = "101",

journal = "Physical Review D",

issn = "2470-0010",

number = "8",

}

Namikawa, T, Guan, Y, Darwish, O, Sherwin, BD, Aiola, S, Battaglia, N, Beall, JA, Becker, DT, Bond, JR, Calabrese, E, Chesmore, GE, Choi, SK, Devlin, MJ, Dunkley, J, Dünner, R, Fox, AE, Gallardo, PA, Gluscevic, V, Han, D, Hasselfield, M, Hilton, GC, Hincks, AD, HloŽek, R, Hubmayr, J, Huffenberger, K, Hughes, JP, Koopman, BJ, Kosowsky, A, Louis, T, Lungu, M, Macinnis, A, Madhavacheril, MS, Mallaby-Kay, M, Maurin, L, Mcmahon, J, Moodley, K, Naess, S, Nati, F, Newburgh, LB, Nibarger, JP, Niemack, MD, Page, LA, Qu, FJ, Robertson, N, Schillaci, A, Sehgal, N, Sifón, C, Simon, SM, Spergel, DN, Staggs, ST, Storer, ER, Van Engelen, A, Van Lanen, J & Wollack, EJ 2020, 'Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on cosmic birefringence', Physical Review D, vol. 101, no. 8, 083527. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527

TY - JOUR

T1 - Atacama Cosmology Telescope

T2 - Constraints on cosmic birefringence

AU - Namikawa, Toshiya

AU - Guan, Yilun

AU - Darwish, Omar

AU - Sherwin, Blake D.

AU - Aiola, Simone

AU - Battaglia, Nicholas

AU - Beall, James A.

AU - Becker, Daniel T.

AU - Bond, J. Richard

AU - Calabrese, Erminia

AU - Chesmore, Grace E.

AU - Choi, Steve K.

AU - Devlin, Mark J.

AU - Dunkley, Joanna

AU - Dünner, Rolando

AU - Fox, Anna E.

AU - Gallardo, Patricio A.

AU - Gluscevic, Vera

AU - Han, Dongwon

AU - Hasselfield, Matthew

AU - Hilton, Gene C.

AU - Hincks, Adam D.

AU - HloŽek, Reneé

AU - Hubmayr, Johannes

AU - Huffenberger, Kevin

AU - Hughes, John P.

AU - Koopman, Brian J.

AU - Kosowsky, Arthur

AU - Louis, Thibaut

AU - Lungu, Marius

AU - Macinnis, Amanda

AU - Madhavacheril, Mathew S.

AU - Mallaby-Kay, Maya

AU - Maurin, Loïc

AU - Mcmahon, Jeffrey

AU - Moodley, Kavilan

AU - Naess, Sigurd

AU - Nati, Federico

AU - Newburgh, Laura B.

AU - Nibarger, John P.

AU - Niemack, Michael D.

AU - Page, Lyman A.

AU - Qu, Frank J.

AU - Robertson, Naomi

AU - Schillaci, Alessandro

AU - Sehgal, Neelima

AU - Sifón, Cristóbal

AU - Simon, Sara M.

AU - Spergel, David N.

AU - Staggs, Suzanne T.

AU - Storer, Emilie R.

AU - Van Engelen, Alexander

AU - Van Lanen, Jeff

AU - Wollack, Edward J.

PY - 2020/4/15

Y1 - 2020/4/15

N2 - We present new constraints on anisotropic birefringence of the cosmic microwave background polarization using two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope covering 456 square degrees of sky. The birefringence power spectrum, measured using a curved-sky quadratic estimator, is consistent with zero. Our results provide the tightest current constraint on birefringence over a range of angular scales between 5 arc minutes and 9°. We improve previous upper limits on the amplitude of a scale-invariant birefringence power spectrum by a factor of between 2 and 3. Assuming a nearly massless axion field during inflation, our result is equivalent to a 2σ upper limit on the Chern-Simons coupling constant between axions and photons of gαγ<4.0×10-2/HI, where HI is the inflationary Hubble scale.

AB - We present new constraints on anisotropic birefringence of the cosmic microwave background polarization using two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope covering 456 square degrees of sky. The birefringence power spectrum, measured using a curved-sky quadratic estimator, is consistent with zero. Our results provide the tightest current constraint on birefringence over a range of angular scales between 5 arc minutes and 9°. We improve previous upper limits on the amplitude of a scale-invariant birefringence power spectrum by a factor of between 2 and 3. Assuming a nearly massless axion field during inflation, our result is equivalent to a 2σ upper limit on the Chern-Simons coupling constant between axions and photons of gαγ<4.0×10-2/HI, where HI is the inflationary Hubble scale.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85084568511

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevD.101.083527

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85084568511

SN - 2470-0010

VL - 101

JO - Physical Review D

JF - Physical Review D

IS - 8

M1 - 083527

ER -

Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on cosmic birefringence

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