B-mode CMB polarization from patchy screening during reionization
- Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States)
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
B modes in CMB polarization from patchy reionization arise from two effects: generation of polarization from scattering of quadrupole moments by reionization bubbles and fluctuations in the screening of E modes from recombination. The scattering contribution has been studied previously, but the screening contribution has not yet been calculated. We show that on scales smaller than the acoustic scale (l > or approx. 300), the B-mode power from screening is larger than the B-mode power from scattering. The ratio approaches a constant {approx}2.5 below the damping scale (l > or approx. 2000). On degree scales relevant for gravitational waves (l < or approx. 100), screening B modes have a white noise tail and are subdominant to the scattering effect. These results are robust to uncertainties in the modeling of patchy reionization.
- OSTI ID:
- 21296398
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 79, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.79.107302; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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