Soubhik Kumar | Cosmological Particle Production and Pairwise Hotspots on the CMB

Parallel Talk | Cosmology from Home 2020

Talk title:
Cosmological Particle Production and Pairwise Hotspots on the CMB

Talk abstract:
We consider a scenario in which heavy particles are produced during inflation via their couplings to the inflaton. Following their production, these heavy particles propagate classically and can give rise to localized hotspots on the Cosmic Microwave Background. Momentum conservation during particle production dictates that these localized hotspots come in pairs. We discuss the properties of such pairs of hotspots and the prospect of their detection using ideas from Wavelet Analysis. We also comment on possible backgrounds coming from thermal fluctuations and astrophysical sources.