Probing Parity-Violation with the Four-Point Correlation Function of BOSS Galaxies

Understand

Parity-violating physics in the early Universe can leave detectable traces in late-time observables.

• Whilst vector- and tensor-type parity-violation can be observed in the $B$-modes of the cosmic microwave background, scalar-type signatures are visible only in the four-point correlation function (4PCF) and beyond.
• This work presents a blind test for parity-violation in the 4PCF of the BOSS CMASS sample, considering galaxy separations in the range $[20,160]h^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}$.
• The parity-odd 4PCF contains no contributions from standard $\Lambda$CDM physics and can be efficiently measured using recently developed estimators.