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A Path-Integral Approach to CMB

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The Cosmic Microwave Background

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ((ASSSP,volume 45))

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Abstract

The fluctuations in the temperature and polarization of the cosmic microwave background are described by a hierarchy of Boltzmann equations. In its integral form, this Boltzmann hierarchy can be converted from the usual Fourier-space base into a position-space and causal description. We shall here restrict ourselves to a particular case when the evolution of the temperature is uncoupled to the polarization, and show that probability densities for random flights play a key role in this description. The integral system can be treated as a perturbative series in the number of steps of the random flights, and the properties of random flight probabilities impose constraints on the domains of dependence.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the organizers of the II JPB School of Cosmology, and FAPESP for financial support.

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Correspondence to Paulo H. Reimberg .

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Reimberg, P.H. (2016). A Path-Integral Approach to CMB. In: Fabris, J., Piattella, O., Rodrigues, D., Velten, H., Zimdahl, W. (eds) The Cosmic Microwave Background. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 45. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44769-8_12

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