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  • Letter

Cross-frequency stochastic gravitational-wave background anisotropy from compact topology: CMB B-mode covariance as a transfer probe

Li-e Qiang1,* and Peng Xu2,3,4,†

  • 1National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 2Center for Gravitational Wave Experiment, National Microgravity Laboratory, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 3Key Laboratory of Gravitational Wave Precision Measurement of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, China
  • 4Taiji Laboratory for Gravitational Wave Universe (Beijing/Hangzhou), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Beijing 100049, China

  • *Contact author: qianglie@nssc.ac.cn
  • †Contact author: xupeng@imech.ac.cn

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 B-mode covariance as a transfer-filtered measurement of that ultra-low-frequency anisotropy. Writing the normalized angular tensor-power measure as F(k,k^)=1+Q(k,k^) and its nonmonopole moments as qLM(k), we obtain an explicit kernel that maps qLM(k) onto the off-diagonal covariance δCℓm,ℓ′m′BB. The kernel factorizes into tensor transfer functions and a spin-weighted Gaunt coefficient and obeys the parity rule L+ℓ+ℓ′ even for BB and odd for TB/EB. 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 B-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 T/E covariance. Independent direct angular-shell sums and qLM-Gaunt contractions agree at Lqmax=2ℓmax to relative Frobenius residuals of 1.4×10−14–3.0×10−14. The scalar sector holds most of the practical CMB topology information; a fixed-template scan places the combined full-sky S/N=1 transition between L/χ*=2.34 and 2.36, while the B-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.

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