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    Constraints on anisotropic cosmic birefringence from CMB B-mode polarization

    A. I. Lonappan1,*, B. Keating1,†, and K. Arnold1,2,‡

    • *Contact author: alonappan@ucsd.edu
    • †Contact author: bkeating@ucsd.edu
    • ‡Contact author: karnold@ucsd.edu

    Phys. Rev. D 112, 023555 – Published 31 July, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yxmh-rh9z

    Abstract

    Cosmic birefringence—the rotation of the polarization plane of light as it traverses the Universe—offers a direct observational window into parity-violating physics beyond the Standard Model. In this work, we revisit the anisotropic component of cosmic birefringence, which leads to the generation of B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Using an exact theoretical treatment beyond the thin last-scattering surface approximation, we constrain the amplitude of anisotropic birefringence with combined polarization data from SPTpol, ACT, POLARBEAR, and BICEP. The joint analysis yields a best-fit amplitude of ACB=0.42−0.34+0.40×10−4, consistent with zero within 2σ, and we place a 95% confidence-level upper bound of ACB<1×10−4. The constraint is not dominated by any single experiment and remains robust under the inclusion of a possible isotropic rotation angle. These results provide leading constraints on anisotropic cosmic birefringence from CMB B-mode polarization and illustrate the potential of upcoming experiments to improve sensitivity to parity-violating effects in the early Universe.

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