# CMB constraints on the early universe independent of late time cosmology

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to constrain early-universe parameters from CMB data independently of late-time cosmological assumptions, using empirical lensing measurements to reduce model dependence.

## Contribution

It presents a novel approach leveraging empirical CMB lensing data to isolate early-universe physics from late-time cosmological uncertainties.

## Key findings

- Constraints on early-universe parameters are robust against late-time model variations.
- Empirical lensing measurements reduce the impact of late-time uncertainties.
- Future data can further refine early-universe parameter estimates with minimal late-time dependence.

## Abstract

The CMB is a powerful probe of early-universe physics but is only observed after passing through large-scale structure, which changes the observed spectra in important model-dependent ways. This is of particular concern given recent claims of significant discrepancies with low redshift data sets when a standard $\Lambda$CDM model is assumed. By using empirical measurements of the CMB lensing reconstruction, combined with weak priors on the smoothness of the lensing spectrum, foregrounds, and shape of any additional integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, we show how the early-universe parameters can be constrained from CMB observations almost independently of the late-time evolution. This provides a way to test new models for early-universe physics, and measure early-universe parameters, independently of late-time cosmology. Using the empirical measurement of lensing keeps the size of the effect of late-time modelling uncertainty under control, leading to only modest increases in error bars of most early-universe parameters compared to assuming a full evolution model. We provide robust constraints on early-$\Lambda$CDM model parameters using the latest Planck PR4 data and show that with future data marginalizing over a single lensing amplitude parameter is sufficient to remove sensitivity to late-time cosmological model only if the spectral shape matches predictions.