How sensitive is the CMB to a single lens?

Ben Rathaus, Anastasia Fialkov, Nissan Itzhaki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We study the imprints of a single lens, that breaks statistical isotropy, on the CMB and calculate the signal to noise ratio (S/N) for its detection. We emphasize the role of non-Gaussianities induced by ΛCDM weak lensing in this calculation and show that typically the S/N is much smaller than expected. In particular we find that the hypothesis that a void (texture) is responsible for the WMAP cold spot can barely (cannot) be tested via weak lensing of the CMB.

Original languageEnglish
Article number033
JournalJournal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Volume2011
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2011

Keywords

  • CMBR theory
  • gravitational lensing
  • non-gaussianity

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics

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