Polarized Spots in Anisotropic Open Universes

We calculate the temperature and polarization patterns generated in anisotropic cosmological models drawn from the Bianchi classification. We show that localized features in the temperature pattern, perhaps similar to the cold spot observed in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data, can be generated in models with negative spatial curvature, i.e. Bianchi types V and VII$_{h}$. Both these models also generate coherent polarization patterns. In Bianchi VII$_h$, however, rotation of the polarization angle as light propagates along geodesics can convert E modes into B modes but in Bianchi V this is not necessarily the case. It is in principle possible, therefore, to generate localized temperature features without violating existing observational constraints on the odd-parity component of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, revisions to match version published in CQ

Textures and Semi-Local Strings in SUSY Hybrid Inflation

Global topological defects may account for the large cold spot observed in the Cosmic Microwave Background. We explore possibilities of constructing models of supersymmetric F-term hybrid inflation, where the waterfall fields are globally SU(2)-symmetric. In contrast to the case where SU(2) is gauged, there arise Goldstone bosons and additional moduli, which are lifted only by masses of soft-supersymmetry breaking scale. The model predicts the existence of global textures, which can become semi-local strings if the waterfall fields are gauged under U(1)_X. Gravitino overproduction can be avoided if reheating proceeds via the light SU(2)-modes or right-handed sneutrinos. For values of the inflaton- waterfall coupling >=10^-4, the symmetry breaking scale imposed by normalisation of the power spectrum generated from inflation coincides with the energy scale required to explain the most prominent of the cold spots. In this case, the spectrum of density fluctuations is close to scale-invariant which can be reconciled with measurements of the power spectrum by the inclusion of the sub-dominant component due to the topological defects.Comment: 29 page