This Voyage 2050 paper highlights the unique science opportunities using spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). CMB spectral distortions probe many processes throughout the history of the Universe, delivering novel information that complements past, present and future efforts with CMB anisotropy and large-scale structure studies. Precision spectroscopy, possible with existing technology, would not only provide key tests for processes expected within the cosmological standard model but also open an enormous discovery space to new physics. This offers unique scientific opportunities for furthering our understanding of inflation, recombination, reionization and structure formation as well as dark matter and particle physics. A dedicated experimental approach could open this new window to the early Universe in the decades to come, allowing us to turn the long-standing upper distortion limits obtained with COBE/FIRAS some 25 years ago into clear detections of the expected standard distortion signals and also challenge our current understanding of the laws of nature.

这份《航行2050年》论文强调了利用宇宙微波背景（CMB）的光谱畸变带来的独特科学机会。CMB光谱畸变探测了整个宇宙的许多过程，提供了新颖的信息，从而补充了CMB各向异性和大规模结构研究的过去，现在和将来的努力。现有技术可能实现的精密光谱学，不仅可以为宇宙学标准模型中预期的过程提供关键测试，而且还为新物理学打开了广阔的发现空间。这为进一步加深我们对膨胀，复合，电离和结构形成以及暗物质和粒子物理学的理解提供了独特的科学机会。大约25年前，COBE / FIRAS清楚地检测到了预期的标准失真信号，并且也挑战了我们目前对自然定律的理解。