Cosmic topology. Part IIIa. Microwave background parity violation without parity-violating microphysics

TL;DR

This paper explores how cosmic topology can naturally explain observed parity violations in the CMB, challenging the assumption of statistical isotropy without requiring new microphysical parity-violating physics.

Contribution

It demonstrates that cosmic topology can induce parity-violating correlations in the CMB, providing a novel framework to interpret anomalies without modifying microphysics.

Findings

Topology can generate $EB$ correlations from tensor perturbations.

Parity violations can arise from boundary conditions, not microphysics.

Topological effects challenge standard cosmological assumptions.

Abstract

The standard cosmological model, which assumes statistical isotropy and parity invariance, predicts the absence of correlations between even-parity and odd-parity observables of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Contrary to these predictions, large-angle CMB temperature anomalies generically involve correlations between even-$\ell$ and odd-$\ell$ angular power spectrum $C_\ell$, while recent analyses of CMB polarization have revealed non-zero equal-$\ell$ $EB$ correlations. These findings challenge the conventional understanding, suggesting deviations from statistical isotropy, violations of parity, or both. Cosmic topology, which involves changing only the boundary conditions of space relative to standard cosmology, offers a compelling framework to potentially account for such parity-violating observations. Topology inherently breaks statistical isotropy, and can also break homogeneity and parity, providing a natural paradigm for explaining observations of parity-breaking observables without the need to add parity violation to the underlying microphysics. Our investigation delves into the harmonic space implications of topology for CMB correlations, using as an illustrative example $EB$ correlations generated by tensor perturbations under both parity-preserving and parity-violating scenarios. Consequently, these findings not only challenge the foundational assumptions of the standard cosmological model but also open new avenues for exploring the topological structure of the Universe through CMB observations.