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Model-Independent Reionization Observables in the CMB

3 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.

3 Pith papers citing it
abstract

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.

years

2026 2 2018 1

representative citing papers

Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters

astro-ph.CO · 2018-07-17 · accept · novelty 5.0

Final Planck CMB data confirms the flat 6-parameter ΛCDM model with Ω_c h² = 0.120 ± 0.001, Ω_b h² = 0.0224 ± 0.0001, n_s = 0.965 ± 0.004, τ = 0.054 ± 0.007, H_0 = 67.4 ± 0.5 km/s/Mpc, and no strong evidence for extensions.

The Lumina Project: CMB Optical Depth Fluctuations from Patchy Reionization

astro-ph.CO · 2026-05-18 · unverdicted · novelty 4.0

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 estimates capturing most of the difference.

citing papers explorer

Showing 3 of 3 citing papers.

  • Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters astro-ph.CO · 2018-07-17 · accept · none · ref 184

    Final Planck CMB data confirms the flat 6-parameter ΛCDM model with Ω_c h² = 0.120 ± 0.001, Ω_b h² = 0.0224 ± 0.0001, n_s = 0.965 ± 0.004, τ = 0.054 ± 0.007, H_0 = 67.4 ± 0.5 km/s/Mpc, and no strong evidence for extensions.

  • The Lumina Project: CMB Optical Depth Fluctuations from Patchy Reionization astro-ph.CO · 2026-05-18 · unverdicted · none · ref 122 · internal anchor

    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 estimates capturing most of the difference.

  • Detectors for CLASS-W2: The second 90 GHz telescope of the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor astro-ph.IM · 2026-06-25 · accept · none · ref 55 · internal anchor

    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.