Testing Gaussianity, Homogeneity, and Isotropy with the Cosmic Microwave Background
We review the basic hypotheses which motivate the statistical framework used to analyze the cosmic microwave background, and how that framework can be enlarged as we relax those hypotheses. In particular, we try to separate as much as possible the questions of gaussianity, homogeneity, and isotropy...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2010-01-01
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| Series: | Advances in Astronomy |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/378203 |
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| Summary: | We review the basic hypotheses which motivate the statistical framework used
to analyze the cosmic microwave background, and how that framework can be enlarged as we relax those hypotheses. In particular, we try to separate as much as
possible the questions of gaussianity, homogeneity, and isotropy from each other.
We focus both on isotropic estimators of nongaussianity as well as statistically
anisotropic estimators of gaussianity, giving particular emphasis on their signatures and the enhanced “cosmic variances” that become increasingly important
as our putative Universe becomes less symmetric. After reviewing the formalism
behind some simple model-independent tests, we discuss how these tests can be
applied to CMB data when searching for large-scale “anomalies”. |
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| ISSN: | 1687-7969 1687-7977 |