Large-scale Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Ka Lok Ng, Kin-Wang Ng

Published 1993-05-03, updated 1994-03-10Version 2

The anisotropy and polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) induced by the scalar and tensor metric perturbations are computed in the long-wavelength limit. It is found that the large-scale polarization of CMBR induced by the decaying tensor mode can reach a few percents. This is different from the scalar or inflation-induced tensor mode, whereas the polarization is at least two orders of magnitude lower. The effect of matter re-ionization on CMBR is also considered. We conclude that measuring the polarization of CMBR on large-angular scales can probe the ionization history of the early Universe, and test different cosmological models.