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arXiv · 1509.02461

POLARBEAR Constraints on Cosmic Birefringence and Primordial Magnetic Fields

POLARBEAR Collaboration·Peter A. R. Ade·Kam Arnold·Matt Atlas·Carlo Baccigalupi·Darcy Barron·David Boettger·Julian Borrill·Scott Chapman·Yuji Chinone·Ari Cukierman·Matt Dobbs·Anne Ducout·Rolando Dunner·Tucker Elleflot·Josquin Errard·Giulio Fabbian·Stephen Feeney·Chang Feng·Adam Gilbert·Neil Goeckner-Wald·John Groh·Grantland Hall·Nils W. Halverson·Masaya Hasegawa·Kaori Hattori·Masashi Hazumi·Charles Hill·William L. Holzapfel·Yasuto Hori·Logan Howe·Yuki Inoue·Gregory C. Jaehnig·Andrew H. Jaffe·Oliver Jeong·Nobuhiko Katayama·Jonathan P. Kaufman·Brian Keating·Zigmund Kermish·Reijo Keskitalo·Theodore Kisner·Akito Kusaka·Maude Le Jeune·Adrian T. Lee·Erik M. Leitch·David Leon·Yun Li·Eric Linder·Lindsay Lowry·Frederick Matsuda·Tomotake Matsumura·Nathan Miller·Josh Montgomery·Michael J. Myers·Martin Navaroli·Haruki Nishino·Takahiro Okamura·Hans Paar·Julien Peloton·Levon Pogosian·Davide Poletti·Giuseppe Puglisi·Christopher Raum·Gabriel Rebeiz·Christian L. Reichardt·Paul L. Richards·Colin Ross·Kaja M. Rotermund·David E. Schenck·Blake D. Sherwin·Meir Shimon·Ian Shirley·Praween Siritanasak·Graeme Smecher·Nathan Stebor·Bryan Steinbach·Aritoki Suzuki·Jun-ichi Suzuki·Osamu Tajima·Satoru Takakura·Alexei Tikhomirov·Takayuki Tomaru·Nathan Whitehorn·Brandon Wilson·Amit Yadav·Alex Zahn·Oliver Zahn
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Abstract

We constrain anisotropic cosmic birefringence using four-point correlations of even-parity $E$-mode and odd-parity $B$-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background measurements made by the POLARization of the Background Radiation (POLARBEAR) experiment in its first season of observations. We find that the anisotropic cosmic birefringence signal from any parity-violating processes is consistent with zero. The Faraday rotation from anisotropic cosmic birefringence can be compared with the equivalent quantity generated by primordial magnetic fields if they existed. The POLARBEAR nondetection translates into a 95% confidence level (C.L.) upper limit of 93 nanogauss (nG) on the amplitude of an equivalent primordial magnetic field inclusive of systematic uncertainties. This four-point correlation constraint on Faraday rotation is about 15 times tighter than the upper limit of 1380 nG inferred from constraining the contribution of Faraday rotation to two-point correlations of $B$-modes measured by Planck in 2015. Metric perturbations sourced by primordial magnetic fields would also contribute to the $B$-mode power spectrum. Using the POLARBEAR measurements of the $B$-mode power spectrum (two-point correlation), we set a 95% C.L. upper limit of 3.9 nG on primordial magnetic fields assuming a flat prior on the field amplitude. This limit is comparable to what was found in the Planck 2015 two-point correlation analysis with both temperature and polarization. We perform a set of systematic error tests and find no evidence for contamination. This work marks the first time that anisotropic cosmic birefringence or primordial magnetic fields have been constrained from the ground at subdegree scales.

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POLARBEAR Collaboration, Peter A. R. Ade, Kam Arnold, Matt Atlas, Carlo Baccigalupi, Darcy Barron, David Boettger, Julian Borrill, Scott Chapman, Yuji Chinone, Ari Cukierman, Matt Dobbs, Anne Ducout, Rolando Dunner, Tucker Elleflot, Josquin Errard, Giulio Fabbian, Stephen Feeney, Chang Feng, Adam Gilbert, Neil Goeckner-Wald, John Groh, Grantland Hall, Nils W. Halverson, Masaya Hasegawa, Kaori Hattori, Masashi Hazumi, Charles Hill, William L. Holzapfel, Yasuto Hori, Logan Howe, Yuki Inoue, Gregory C. Jaehnig, Andrew H. Jaffe, Oliver Jeong, Nobuhiko Katayama, Jonathan P. Kaufman, Brian Keating, Zigmund Kermish, Reijo Keskitalo, Theodore Kisner, Akito Kusaka, Maude Le Jeune, Adrian T. Lee, Erik M. Leitch, David Leon, Yun Li, Eric Linder, Lindsay Lowry, Frederick Matsuda, Tomotake Matsumura, Nathan Miller, Josh Montgomery, Michael J. Myers, Martin Navaroli, Haruki Nishino, Takahiro Okamura, Hans Paar, Julien Peloton, Levon Pogosian, Davide Poletti, Giuseppe Puglisi, Christopher Raum, Gabriel Rebeiz, Christian L. Reichardt, Paul L. Richards, Colin Ross, Kaja M. Rotermund, David E. Schenck, Blake D. Sherwin, Meir Shimon, Ian Shirley, Praween Siritanasak, Graeme Smecher, Nathan Stebor, Bryan Steinbach, Aritoki Suzuki, Jun-ichi Suzuki, Osamu Tajima, Satoru Takakura, Alexei Tikhomirov, Takayuki Tomaru, Nathan Whitehorn, Brandon Wilson, Amit Yadav, Alex Zahn, Oliver Zahn. 2015-09-08. POLARBEAR Constraints on Cosmic Birefringence and Primordial Magnetic Fields. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.92.123509

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