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arXiv · 1607.03523

Reassessing the link between B-modes and inflation

Gabriel León·Abhishek Majhi·Elias Okon·Daniel Sudarsky
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Abstract

We reevaluate the predictions of inflation regarding primordial gravity waves, which should appear as B-modes in the CMB, in light of the fact that the standard inflationary paradigm is unable to account for the transition from an initially symmetric state into a non-symmetric outcome. We show that the incorporation of an element capable of explaining such a transition dramatically alters the prediction for the shape and size of the B-mode spectrum. In particular, we find that by adapting a realistic objective collapse model to the situation at hand, the B-mode spectrum gets strongly suppressed with respect to the standard prediction. We conclude that the failure to detect B-modes in the CMB does not rule-out the simplest inflationary models.

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Gabriel León, Abhishek Majhi, Elias Okon, Daniel Sudarsky. 2016-07-12. Reassessing the link between B-modes and inflation. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.96.101301

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