Suppressing CMB low multipoles with ISW effect

Abstract

Recent results of Planck data reveal that the power [1,2] in the low multipoles of the CMB angular power spectrum, approximately up to l = 30, is significantly lower than the theoretically predicted in the best fit ΛCDM model. There are different known physical effects that can affect the power at low multipoles, such as features in the primordial power spectrum (PPS) in some models of inflation and ISW effect. In this paper we investigate the possibility of invoking the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect to explain the power deficit at low multipoles. The ISW effect that originates from the late time expansion history of the universe is rich in possibilities given the limited understanding of the origin of dark energy (DE). It is a common understanding that the ISW effect adds to the power at the low multipoles of the CMB angular power spectrum. In this paper we carry out an analytic study to show that there are some expansion histories in which the ISW effect, instead of adding power, provides negative contribution to the power at low multipoles. Guided by the analytic study, we present examples of the features required in the late time expansion history of the universe that could explain the power deficiency through the ISW effect. We also show that an ISW origin of power deficiency is consistent, at present, with other cosmological observations that probe the expansion history such as distance modulus, matter power spectrum and the evolution of cluster number count. We also show that the ISW effect may be distinguished from power deficit originating from features in the PPS using the measurements of the CMB polarization spectrum at low multipoles expected from Planck. We conclude that the power at low multipoles of the CMB anisotropy could well be closely linked to Dark Energy puzzle in cosmology and this observation could be actually pointing to richer phenomenology of DE beyond the cosmological constant Λ.