2–8 Sept 2025
Mon-Repos, Corfu, Greece
Europe/Athens timezone

Assessing the significance of CMB anomalies with cosmological gravitational waves

3 Sept 2025, 12:20
20m
Mon-Repos, Corfu, Greece

Mon-Repos, Corfu, Greece

Speaker

Dr Giacomo Galloni (University of Ferrara)

Description

Since the very first observations, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) has revealed on large scales unexpected features known as anomalies, which challenge the standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model. One of these is the hemispherical power asymmetry, i.e. a difference in the average power on the two hemispheres centered around (l, b) = (221, −20), which shows a relatively high level of significance. Another is the lack-of-correlation, where the measured two-point angular correlation function of CMB temperature anisotropies is compatible with zero, differently from the predictions of the standard model. These anomalies could indicate a deviation from the standard model, unknown systematics, or simply a rare realization of the model itself. In this talk, I will investigate the physical origin of these anomalies, leveraging the potential information provided by the cosmological gravitational wave background (CGWB) detectable by future gravitational wave (GW) interferometers. In particular, I will analyze both constrained and unconstrained realizations of the CGWB to study the extent of information that GWs can offer. Indeed, the CGWB represents a unique window to explore the early universe and I will show that it can be used in combination with CMB data to shed light on the CMB anomalies.

Presentation materials