Constraining inflation with cosmic microwave background polarization - art. no. 123506

Observations of the polarization of the cosmic microwave backround (CMB) ha ve the potential to place much tighter constraints on cosmological paramete rs than observations of the fluctuations in temperature alone. We discuss u sing CMB polarization to constrain parameters relevant for distinguishing a mong popular models for cosmological inflation, using the MAP and Planck sa tellite missions as example cases. Of particular interest is the ability to detect tiny contributions to the CMB anisotropy from tensor modes, which i s fundamentally limited by cosmic variance in temperature-only observations . The ability to detect a tensor/scalar ratio r similar to 0.01 would allow precision tests of interesting inflation models, and is possible with a mo dest increase in sensitivity over that planned for the Planck satellite or is potentially achievable by ground-based experiments. [S0556-2821(98)01822 -0].