title: From Planck Data to Planck Era: Observational Tests of Holographic Cosmology.
abstract: We test a class of holographic models for the very early Universe against cosmological observations and find that they are competitive to the standard cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant (ΛCDM) of cosmology. These models are based on three-dimensional perturbative superrenormalizable quantum field theory (QFT), and, while they predict a different power spectrum from the standard power law used in ΛCDM, they still provide an excellent fit to the data (within their regime of validity). By comparing the Bayesian evidence for the models, we find that ΛCDM does a better job globally, while the holographic models provide a (marginally) better fit to the data without very low multipoles (i.e., l≲30), where the QFT becomes nonperturbative. Observations can be used to exclude some QFT models, while we also find models satisfying all phenomenological constraints: The data rule out the dual theory being a Yang-Mills theory coupled to fermions only but allow for a Yang-Mills theory coupled to nonminimal scalars with quartic interactions. Lattice simulations of 3D QFTs can provide nonperturbative predictions for large-angle statistics of the cosmic microwave background and potentially explain its apparent anomalies.
authors.affiliation: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Niayesh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Afshordi
authors.affiliation: STAG Research Centre, Highfield, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ Southampton, United Kingdom.|Mathematical Sciences, Highfield, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ Southampton, United Kingdom.|Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica "Ennio De Giorgi," Università del Salento and INFN-Lecce, Via Arnesano, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corianò
authors.affiliation: STAG Research Centre, Highfield, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ Southampton, United Kingdom.|School of Physics and Astronomy, Highfield, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ Southampton, United Kingdom.|Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Delle Rose
authors.affiliation: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.affiliation: STAG Research Centre, Highfield, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ Southampton, United Kingdom.|Mathematical Sciences, Highfield, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ Southampton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skenderis