3 research outputs found
The Cosmic Microwave Background and Particle Physics
In forthcoming years, connections between cosmology and particle physics will
be made increasingly important with the advent of a new generation of cosmic
microwave background (CMB) experiments. Here, we review a number of these
links. Our primary focus is on new CMB tests of inflation. We explain how the
inflationary predictions for the geometry of the Universe and primordial
density perturbations will be tested by CMB temperature fluctuations, and how
the gravitational waves predicted by inflation can be pursued with the CMB
polarization. The CMB signatures of topological defects and primordial magnetic
fields from cosmological phase transitions are also discussed. Furthermore, we
review current and future CMB constraints on various types of dark matter (e.g.
massive neutrinos, weakly interacting massive particles, axions, vacuum
energy), decaying particles, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe,
ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, exotic cosmological topologies, and other new
physics.Comment: 43 pages. To appear in Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Scienc
Search for cosmological mu variation from high redshift H2 absorption; a status report
Observations of H2 spectra in the line-of-sight of distant quasars may reveal
a variation of the proton-electron mass ratio mu=m_p/m_e at high redshift,
typically for z>2. Currently four high-quality systems (Q0347-383, Q0405-443,
Q0528-250 and J2123-005) have been analyzed returning a constraint Dmu/mu < 1 x
10^{-5}. We present data and a mu-variation analysis of another system,
Q2348-011 at redshift z_{abs}=2.42, delivering dmu/mu = (-1.5 \pm 1.6) x
10^{-5}. In addition to observational data the status of the laboratory
measurements is reviewed. The future possibilities of deriving a competitive
constraint on Dmu/mu from the known high-redshift H2 absorbers is investigated,
resulting in the identification of a number of potentially useful systems for
detecting mu-variation.Comment: 13 Pages, 4 Figures, JENAM conference (Lisbon); accepte