ANGULAR-MOMENTUM OF THE COSMIC BACKGROUND-RADIATION

The effect of a nontrivial conserved isotropic total angular momentum M2=mx2+my2+mz2 on the equilibrium distribution of energy in a photon gas is examined. It is shown that the correspondingly modified Planck law takes the form F(ν)=constνγ-1ln[(1-e-βν-γν2)(1-e-βν)], where β and γ are parameters determined by the energy and angular momentum. This law provides a good fit to the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation observed by Woody and Richards. © 1979 The American Physical Society.