On the breaking of statistical isotropy through inflationary relics

TL;DR

This paper discusses a mechanism during inflation that creates local anomalies in the CMB, especially through scalar and vector fields, leading to breaking of statistical isotropy in certain patches.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed model embedding a scalar-vector field mechanism during inflation that explains local CMB anomalies and isotropy breaking.

Findings

Mechanism accounts for large-angle CMB anomalies

Embedding in vector fields causes statistical isotropy breaking

Local curvature perturbation contributions are generated

Abstract

In this talk we elaborate on a mechanism to generate local contributions to the curvature perturbation in isolated patches of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The mechanism, based on the generation of an out-of-equilibrium configuration in fluctuating scalar fields of mass $m\sim H$ during a sustained stage of fast-roll inflation, has been recently shown to be capable of accounting for some of the most robust large-angle anomalies detected in the CMB. In this talk, we show in detail how the embedding of the mechanism into models including vector fields can result in the breaking of statistical isotropy in isolated patches of the CMB.