A novel sampling theorem on the rotation group

We develop a novel sampling theorem for functions defined on the three-dimensional rotation group SO(3) by connecting the rotation group to the three-torus through a periodic extension. Our sampling theorem requires $4L^3$ samples to capture all of the information content of a signal band-limited at $L$, reducing the number of required samples by a factor of two compared to other equiangular sampling theorems. We present fast algorithms to compute the associated Fourier transform on the rotation group, the so-called Wigner transform, which scale as $O(L^4)$, compared to the naive scaling of $O(L^6)$. For the common case of a low directional band-limit $N$, complexity is reduced to $O(N L^3)$. Our fast algorithms will be of direct use in speeding up the computation of directional wavelet transforms on the sphere. We make our SO3 code implementing these algorithms publicly available.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, minor changes to match version accepted for publication. Code available at http://www.sothree.or

Primordial constraint on the spatial dependence of the Newton constant

A Nordtvedt effect at cosmological scales affects the acoustic oscillations imprinted in the cosmic microwave background. The gravitational baryonic mass density of the universe is inferred at the first peak scale from WMAP data. The independent determination of the inertial baryonic mass density through the measurement of the deuterium abundance in the framework of standard big bang nucleosynthesis leads to a new constraint on a possible violation of the strong equivalence principle at the recombination time

Wavelet-Bayesian inference of cosmic strings embedded in the cosmic microwave background

Cosmic strings are a well-motivated extension to the standard cosmological model and could induce a subdominant component in the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), in addition to the standard inflationary component. The detection of strings, while observationally challenging, would provide a direct probe of physics at very high energy scales. We develop a new framework for cosmic string inference, constructing a Bayesian analysis in wavelet space where the string-induced CMB component has distinct statistical properties to the standard inflationary component. Our wavelet-Bayesian framework provides a principled approach to compute the posterior distribution of the string tension $G\mu$ and the Bayesian evidence ratio comparing the string model to the standard inflationary model. Furthermore, we present a technique to recover an estimate of any string-induced CMB map embedded in observational data. Using Planck-like simulations we demonstrate the application of our framework and evaluate its performance. The method is sensitive to $G\mu \sim 5 \times 10^{-7}$ for Nambu-Goto string simulations that include an integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) contribution only and do not include any recombination effects, before any parameters of the analysis are optimised. The sensitivity of the method compares favourably with other techniques applied to the same simulations.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, minor changes to match version accepted by MNRA

A compact photonic horizontal spot-size converter realized in silicon-on-insulator

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On spin scale-discretised wavelets on the sphere for the analysis of CMB polarisation

A new spin wavelet transform on the sphere is proposed to analyse the polarisation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), a spin ± 2 signal observed on the celestial sphere. The scalar directional scale-discretised wavelet transform on the sphere is extended to analyse signals of arbitrary spin. The resulting spin scale-discretised wavelet transform probes the directional intensity of spin signals. A procedure is presented using this new spin wavelet transform to recover E- and B-mode signals from partial-sky observations of CMB polarisatio