- Letter
Cross-frequency stochastic gravitational-wave background anisotropy from compact topology: CMB -mode covariance as a transfer probe
Phys. Rev. D 114, L081301 – Published 2 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ynqz-ykc9
Abstract
Compact spatial topology restricts the eigenmodes of primordial tensor perturbations, and the resulting discreteness can render the primordial stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB) anisotropic. Here we treat the CMB tensor -mode covariance as a transfer-filtered measurement of that ultra-low-frequency anisotropy. Writing the normalized angular tensor-power measure as and its nonmonopole moments as , we obtain an explicit kernel that maps onto the off-diagonal covariance . The kernel factorizes into tensor transfer functions and a spin-weighted Gaunt coefficient and obeys the parity rule even for and odd for . It is an exact source-response representation of the full compact covariance rather than an additional observable. For a cubic three-torus the geometry pins down a common cubic angular subspace and orientation across frequency bands, although the amplitudes of the allowed multipoles still depend on the radial shell and source spectrum. The same topology-restricted template can therefore be read out either through the CMB -mode kernel or through the anisotropy response of PTA/LISA/Taiji/TianQin searches. Using CAMB transfer functions and an invariant anisotropic-template statistic, we contrast this tensor channel with the scalar covariance. Independent direct angular-shell sums and -Gaunt contractions agree at to relative Frobenius residuals of . The scalar sector holds most of the practical CMB topology information; a fixed-template scan places the combined full-sky transition between and 2.36, while the -mode channel remains subthreshold but isolates the primordial SGWB contribution. We use these results to set out a cross-frequency template for future topology searches.