Tests for gaussianity of the MAXIMA-1 cosmic microwave background map

J. H.P. Wu, A. Balbi, J. Borrill, P. G. Ferreira, S. Hanany, A. H. Jaffe, A. T. Lee, B. Rabii, P. L. Richards, G. F. Smoot, R. Stompor, C. D. Winant

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

83 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gaussianity of the cosmological perturbations is one of the key predictions of standard inflation, but it is violated by other models of structure formation such as cosmic defects. We present the first test of the Gaussianity of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on subdegree angular scales, where deviations from Gaussianity are most likely to occur. We apply the methods of moments, cumulants, the Kolmogorov test, the χ2 test, and Minkowski functionals in eigen, real, Wiener-filtered, and signal-whitened spaces, to the MAXIMA-1 CMB anisotropy data. We find that the data, which probe angular scales between 10 arcmin and 5 deg, are consistent with Gaussianity. These results show consistency with the standard inflation and place constraints on the existence of cosmic defects.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)251303-1-251303-4
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume87
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 17 2001

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Tests for gaussianity of the MAXIMA-1 cosmic microwave background map'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this