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Effect of lensing non-Gaussianity on the CMB power spectra

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH (United Kingdom)

Observed CMB anisotropies are lensed, and the lensed power spectra can be calculated accurately assuming the lensing deflections are Gaussian. However, the lensing deflections are actually slightly non-Gaussian due to both non-linear large-scale structure growth and post-Born corrections. We calculate the leading correction to the lensed CMB power spectra from the non-Gaussianity, which is determined by the lensing bispectrum. Assuming no primordial non-Gaussianity, the lowest-order result gives ∼ 0.3% corrections to the BB and EE polarization spectra on small-scales. However we show that the effect on EE is reduced by about a factor of two by higher-order Gaussian lensing smoothing, rendering the total effect safely negligible for the foreseeable future. We give a simple analytic model for the signal expected from skewness of the large-scale lensing field; the effect is similar to a net demagnification and hence a small change in acoustic scale (and therefore out of phase with the dominant lensing smoothing that predominantly affects the peaks and troughs of the power spectrum).

OSTI ID:
22679375
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 2016; ISSN 1475-7516
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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