Observational constraints on the energy scale of inflation

Understand

Determining the energy scale of inflation is crucial to understand the nature of inflation in the early Universe.

• We place observational constraints on the energy scale of the observable part of the inflaton potential by combining the 7-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data with distance measurements from the baryon acoustic oscillations in the distribution of galaxies and the Hubble constant measurement.
• Our analysis provides an upper limit on this energy scale, 2.3 \times 10^{16} GeV at 95% confidence level.
• Moreover, we forecast the sensitivity and constraints achievable by the Planck experiment by performing Monte Carlo studies on simulated data.