The Primordial power spectrum from the largest to smallest CMB scales

Abstract

We reconstruct the primordial power spectrum (PPS) across the full range of cosmological scales accessible to Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations. Using the Modified Richardson--Lucy algorithm, we perform free-form reconstructions through deconvolution of Planck PR3 and PR4, Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) DR6, and South Pole Telescope 3G (SPT-3G) D1 data. Across different regularization schemes, we find no evidence for significant deviations from a power-law primordial spectrum. The reconstructed spectra show a strong correlation between Planck and ACT, even at the level of localized features over their overlapping range, $0.07<k<0.14\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, demonstrating consistency between the two observations. Using a complementary parametric Bayesian reconstruction, we find that the previously discussed preference for a blueward tilt in the ACT data at small scales is preferred only at the $1\sigma$ level.