Angular correlations of causally-coherent primordial quantum perturbations

TL;DR

This paper explores how nonlocal quantum entanglement of inflationary horizons could explain anomalies in the CMB's large-scale anisotropy, predicting reduced cosmic variance and new symmetries in angular correlations.

Contribution

It introduces a causally-coherent quantum model for primordial perturbations that accounts for large-scale CMB anomalies and predicts new symmetries in angular correlations.

Findings

Causal coherence can reduce cosmic variance in large-angle CMB power spectrum.

The model predicts new symmetries in the angular correlation function.

Constraints are consistent with current large-scale CMB measurements.

Abstract

We consider the hypothesis that nonlocal, omnidirectional, causally-coherent quantum entanglement of inflationary horizons may account for some well-known measured anomalies of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy on large angular scales. It is shown that causal coherence can lead to less cosmic variance in the large-angle power spectrum ${C}_\ell$ of primordial curvature perturbations on spherical horizons than predicted by the standard model of locality in effective field theory, and to new symmetries of the angular correlation function ${C}(\Theta)$. Causal considerations are used to construct an approximate analytic model for ${C}(\Theta)$ on angular scales larger than a few degrees. Allowing for uncertainties from the unmeasured intrinsic dipole and from Galactic foreground subtraction, causally-coherent constraints are shown to be consistent with measured CMB correlations on large angular scales. Reduced cosmic variance will enable powerful tests of the hypothesis with better foreground subtraction and higher fidelity measurements on large angular scales.