On the large-angle anomalies of the microwave sky

被引:221
作者
Copi, CJ [1 ]
Huterer, D
Schwarz, DJ
Starkman, GD
机构
[1] Case Western Reserve Univ, Dept Phys, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
[2] Univ Chicago, Kavli Inst Cosmol Phys, Chicago, IL 60637 USA
[3] Univ Chicago, Dept Astron & Astrophys, Chicago, IL 60637 USA
[4] Univ Bielefeld, Fak Phys, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany
[5] Univ Oxford, Dept Astrophys, Oxford OX1 3RH, England
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
cosmic microwave background;
D O I
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09980.x
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We apply the multipole vector framework to full-sky maps derived from the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data. We significantly extend our earlier work showing that the two lowest cosmologically interesting multipoles, l= 2 and 3, are not statistically isotropic. These results are compared to the findings obtained using related methods. In particular, we show that the planes of the quadrupole and the octopole are unexpectedly aligned. Moreover, the combined quadrupole plus octopole is surprisingly aligned with the geometry and direction of motion of the Solar system: the plane they define is perpendicular to the ecliptic plane and to the plane defined by the dipole direction, and the ecliptic plane carefully separates stronger from weaker extrema, running within a couple of degrees of the null-contour between a maximum and a minimum over more than 120 degrees of the sky. Even given the alignment of the quadrupole and octopole with each other, we find that their alignment with the ecliptic is unlikely at > 98 per cent confidence level (CL), and argue that it is in fact unlikely at > 99.9 per cent CL. Most of the l = 2 and 3 multipole vectors of the known Galactic foregrounds are located far from those of the observed sky, strongly suggesting that residual contamination by such foregrounds is unlikely to be the cause of the observed correlations. Multipole vectors, like individual alpha(lm), are very sensitive to sky cuts, and we demonstrate that analyses using cut skies induce relatively large errors, thus weakening the observed correlations but preserving their consistency with the full-sky results. Similarly, the analysis of COBE cut-sky maps shows increased errors but is consistent with WMAP full-sky results. We briefly extend these explorations to higher multipoles, noting again anomalous deviations from statistical isotropy and comparing with ecliptic asymmetry manifested in the WMAP team's own analysis. If the correlations we observe are indeed a signal of non-cosmic origin, then the lack of low-l power will very likely be exacerbated, with important consequences for our understanding of cosmology on large scales.
引用
收藏
页码:79 / 102
页数:24
相关论文
共 76 条
  • [1] First-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations:: Foreground emission
    Bennett, CL
    Hill, RS
    Hinshaw, G
    Nolta, MR
    Odegard, N
    Page, L
    Spergel, DN
    Weiland, JL
    Wright, EL
    Halpern, M
    Jarosik, N
    Kogut, A
    Limon, M
    Meyer, SS
    Tucker, GS
    Wollack, E
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES, 2003, 148 (01) : 97 - 117
  • [2] Four-year COBE DMR cosmic microwave background observations: Maps and basic results
    Bennett, CL
    Banday, AJ
    Gorski, KM
    Hinshaw, G
    Jackson, P
    Keegstra, P
    Kogut, A
    Smoot, GF
    Wilkinson, DT
    Wright, EL
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 1996, 464 (01) : L1 - &
  • [3] First-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations:: Preliminary maps and basic results
    Bennett, CL
    Halpern, M
    Hinshaw, G
    Jarosik, N
    Kogut, A
    Limon, M
    Meyer, SS
    Page, L
    Spergel, DN
    Tucker, GS
    Wollack, E
    Wright, EL
    Barnes, C
    Greason, MR
    Hill, RS
    Komatsu, E
    Nolta, MR
    Odegard, N
    Peiris, HV
    Verde, L
    Weiland, JL
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES, 2003, 148 (01) : 1 - 27
  • [4] The cosmic microwave background anisotropy power spectrum measured by Archeops
    Benoît, A
    Ade, P
    Amblard, A
    Ansari, R
    Abourg, É
    Bargot, S
    Bartlett, JG
    Bernard, JP
    Bhatia, RS
    Blanchard, A
    Bock, JJ
    Boscaleri, A
    Bouchet, FR
    Bourrachot, A
    Camus, P
    Couchot, F
    de Bernardis, P
    Delabrouille, J
    Désert, FX
    Doré, O
    Douspis, M
    Dumoulin, L
    Dupac, X
    Filliatre, P
    Fosalba, P
    Ganga, K
    Gannaway, F
    Gautier, B
    Giard, M
    Giraud-Héraud, Y
    Gispert, R
    Guglielmi, L
    Hamilton, JC
    Hanany, S
    Henrot-Versillé, S
    Kaplan, J
    Lagache, G
    Lamarre, JM
    Lange, AE
    Macías-Pérez, JF
    Madet, K
    Maffei, B
    Magneville, C
    Marrone, DP
    Masi, S
    Mayet, F
    Murphy, A
    Naraghi, F
    Nati, F
    Patanchon, G
    [J]. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2003, 399 (03) : L19 - L23
  • [5] Multipole vector anomalies in the first-year WMAP data:: A cut-sky analysis
    Bielewicz, P
    Eriksen, HK
    Banday, AJ
    Górski, KM
    Lilje, PB
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2005, 635 (02) : 750 - 760
  • [6] Low-order multipole maps of cosmic microwave background anisotropy derived from WMAP
    Bielewicz, P
    Górski, KM
    Banday, AJ
    [J]. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2004, 355 (04) : 1283 - 1302
  • [7] ANTIPODALLY SYMMETRIC DISTRIBUTION ON SPHERE
    BINGHAM, C
    [J]. ANNALS OF STATISTICS, 1974, 2 (06) : 1201 - 1225
  • [8] Higher criticism statistic:: detecting and identifying non-Gaussianity in the WMAP first-year data
    Cayón, L
    Jin, J
    Treaster, A
    [J]. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2005, 362 (03) : 826 - 832
  • [9] Non-Gaussianity of the derived maps from the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data
    Chiang, LY
    Naselsky, PD
    Verkhodanov, OV
    Way, MJ
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2003, 590 (02) : L65 - L68
  • [10] Multipole vectors:: A new representation of the CMB sky and evidence for statistical anisotropy or non-Gaussianity at 2≤l≤8 -: art. no. 043515
    Copi, CJ
    Huterer, D
    Starkman, GD
    [J]. PHYSICAL REVIEW D, 2004, 70 (04):