Red, Straight, no bends: primordial power spectrum reconstruction from CMB and large-scale structure

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2016/08/028· OSTI ID:22679514

Ravenni, Andrea ^[1]; Verde, Licia

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1. Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia ''G. Galilei'', Università degli Studi di Padova, via Marzolo 8, I-35131, Padova (Italy)

We present a minimally parametric, model independent reconstruction of the shape of the primordial power spectrum. Our smoothing spline technique is well-suited to search for smooth features such as deviations from scale invariance, and deviations from a power law such as running of the spectral index or small-scale power suppression. We use a comprehensive set of the state-of the art cosmological data: Planck observations of the temperature and polarisation anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background, WiggleZ and Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 galaxy power spectra and the Canada-France-Hawaii Lensing Survey correlation function. This reconstruction strongly supports the evidence for a power law primordial power spectrum with a red tilt and disfavours deviations from a power law power spectrum including small-scale power suppression such as that induced by significantly massive neutrinos. This offers a powerful confirmation of the inflationary paradigm, justifying the adoption of the inflationary prior in cosmological analyses.

• OSTI ID: 22679514
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Journal Issue: 08 Vol. 2016; ISSN 1475-7516
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ANISOTROPY
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS
CORRELATIONS
GALAXIES
GRAVITATIONAL LENSES
INHIBITION
NEUTRINOS
POLARIZATION
RELICT RADIATION
SCALE INVARIANCE
SIMULATION
SPECTRA