Reassessing the link between B-modes and inflation

Abstract

We reevaluate the predictions of inflation regarding primordial gravity waves, which should appear as B-modes in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), in light of the fact that the standard inflationary paradigm is unable to account for the transition from an initially symmetric state into a nonsymmetric outcome. We show that the incorporation of an element capable of explaining such a transition dramatically alters the prediction for the shape and size of the B-mode spectrum. In particular, we find that by adapting a realistic objective collapse model to the situation at hand, the B-mode spectrum becomes strongly suppressed with respect to the standard prediction. We conclude that the failure to detect B-modes in the CMB does not rule out the simplest inflationary models.