Constraints on single-field inflation with WMAP, SPT and ACT data - a last-minute stand before Planck

• Published in: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
• Main Authors: Cheng, C, Huang, QG, Ma, YZ, Cheng, C (reprint author), Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Theoret Phys, State Key Lab Theoret Phys, Beijing 100190, Peoples R China.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Baryon Acoustic-oscillations; Quantum Corrections; Hubble Constant; Flatness; Universe; Horizon; Physics; South Pole; Wilkinson; Pivot; Hubble; South pole
• Online Access: http://ir.itp.ac.cn/handle/311006/15329; https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2013/07/018

We constrain models of single field inflation with the pre-Planck CMB data. The data used here is the 9-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data, South Pole Telescope (SPT) data and Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data. By adding in running of spectral index parameter, we find that the chi(2) is improved by a factor of Delta chi(2) = 8.44, which strongly indicates the preference of this parameter from current data. In addition, we find that the running of spectral index as does not change very much even if we switch to different pivot scales, which suggests that the power law expansion of power spectrum is accurate enough till the 1st order term. Furthermore, we find that the joint constraints on r - n(s) give very tight constraints on single-field inflation models, and the models with power law potential empty set(p) can only survive if 0.9 less than or similar to p less than or similar to 2.1, so a large class of inflation models have already been ruled out before Planck data. Finally, we use the f(NL) data to constrain the non-trivial sound speed c(s). We find that the current constraint is dominated by the power spectrum constraints which have some inconsistency with the constraints from f(NL). This poses important questions of consistency between power spectrum and bispectrum of WMAP data.