Reflecting the Universe in a Mirror

Oliver Philcox

Simons Society of Fellows, New York, USA

Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) have cemented the notion that the large-scale Universe is both statistically homogeneous and isotropic. But is it invariant also under (point) reflections? Recently, observations of CMB polarization and the distribution of galaxies have challenged this notion, and give tentative evidence for new parity-violating processes at work in the early or late Universe. In this talk, I will discuss these measurements, including their formulation and interpretation before commenting on possible explanations for the signal, both in terms of new physics and systematics. I will further discuss new analyses using the CMB temperature and polarization fluctuations, and their implications for parity violation in the Universe.

Date:	Thursday, 19 October 2023
Time:	11:30
Where:	All
	MIL A-3561
Contact:	https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uY-HZ3d4qvxQi1OuCFRyfJaZdRg_AMnMnRGvOzARKJM/edit?usp=sharing