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Model-Independent Reionization Observables in the CMB

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arxiv astro-ph/0303400 v1 pith:VR36JHJR submitted 2003-03-18 astro-ph

classification astro-ph
keywords modesreionizationamplitudehistoryionizationmodelredshiftrepresent
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We represent the reionization history of the universe as a free function in redshift and study the potential for its extraction from CMB polarization spectra. From a principal component analysis, we show that the ionization history information is contained in 5 modes, resembling low-order Fourier modes in redshift space. The amplitude of these modes represent a compact description of the observable properties of reionization in the CMB, easily predicted given a model for the ionization fraction. Measurement of these modes can ultimately constrain the total optical depth, or equivalently the initial amplitude of fluctuations to the 1% level regardless of the true model for reionization.

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Forward citations

Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. OpenAlex reports about 100 citations worldwide. Full citation record

  1. A self-consistent analytical model for both the photoionization rate and reionization history

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    A new analytical formalism self-consistently predicts both the ionized fraction x_i(z) and photoionization rate Gamma_HI(z), achieving percent-level accuracy in x_i and 20-30% accuracy in Gamma_HI versus radiative tra...

  2. Turning a negative neutrino mass into a positive optical depth

    astro-ph.CO 2025-04 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    The DESI-CMB tension that looks like negative neutrino mass or evolving dark energy is actually a tension in the optical depth tau; freeing tau resolves it within standard cosmology.

  3. Impact of reionization history on constraining primordial gravitational waves in future all-sky cosmic microwave background experiments

    astro-ph.CO 2024-12 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Using a wrong reionization model can bias LiteBIRD's constraints on the shape of the primordial gravitational-wave spectrum, but large-scale E-mode data would expose and remove such models.

  4. Raising the reionization optical depth with inflationary CMB features

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0 of 10

    Marginalizing over generalized slow-roll inflationary templates for the CMB low-power feature raises the 95% upper limit on τ to 0.075 (Planck) or 0.082 (all CMB+BAO), resolving incompatibility with lower bounds.

  5. The Lumina Project: CMB Optical Depth Fluctuations from Patchy Reionization

    astro-ph.CO 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 4.0 of 10

    The Lumina simulation shows that explicit light-cone integrations produce a CMB optical depth 7% higher than volume-weighted ionization histories, with the excess accumulating near redshift 8 and mass-weighted estimat...

  6. Detectors for CLASS-W2: The second 90 GHz telescope of the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

    astro-ph.IM 2026-06 accept novelty 3.0 of 10

    A new 296-detector 90 GHz TES bolometer array for CLASS achieves uniform properties, 16 μK√s NET, 0.37 optical efficiency, and a 41% mapping speed boost after addressing blue-leak radiation.

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