scholarly journals Explaining cosmological anisotropy: evidence for causal horizons from CMB data

Author(s):  
Pablo Fosalba ◽  
Enrique Gaztañaga

Abstract The origin of power asymmetry and other measures of statistical anisotropy on the largest scales of the universe, as manifested in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and large-scale structure data, is a long-standing open question in cosmology. In this paper we analyse the Planck Legacy temperature anisotropy data and find strong evidence for a violation of the Cosmological principle of isotropy, with a probability of being a statistical fluctuation of order ∼10−9. The detected anisotropy is related to large-scale directional ΛCDM cosmological parameter variations across the CMB sky, that are sourced by three distinct patches in the maps with circularly-averaged sizes between 40 to 70 degrees in radius. We discuss the robustness of our findings to different foreground separation methods and analysis choices, and find consistent results from WMAP data when limiting the analysis to the same scales. We argue that these well-defined regions within the cosmological parameter maps may reflect finite and casually disjoint horizons across the observable universe. In particular we show that the observed relation between horizon size and mean dark energy density within a given horizon is in good agreement with expectations from a recently proposed model of the universe that explains cosmic acceleration and cosmological parameter tensions between the high and low redshift universe from the existence of casual horizons within our universe.

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 1760009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Zhao ◽  
Larissa Santos

In both WMAP and Planck observations on the temperature anisotropy of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation a number of large-scale anomalies were discovered in the past years, including the CMB parity asymmetry in the low multipoles. By defining a directional statistics, we find that the CMB parity asymmetry is directional dependent, and the preferred axis is stable, which means that it is independent of the chosen CMB map, the definition of the statistic, or the CMB masks. Meanwhile, we find that this preferred axis strongly aligns with those of the CMB quadrupole, octopole, as well as those of other large-scale observations. In addition, all of them aligns with the CMB kinematic dipole, which hints to the non-cosmological origin of these directional anomalies in cosmological observations.


Author(s):  
Nathalie Deruelle ◽  
Jean-Philippe Uzan

This chapter provides a few examples of representations of the universe on a large scale—a first step in constructing a cosmological model. It first discusses the Copernican principle, which is an approximation/hypothesis about the matter distribution in the observable universe. The chapter then turns to the cosmological principle—a hypothesis about the geometry of the Riemannian spacetime representing the universe, which is assumed to be foliated by 3-spaces labeled by a cosmic time t which are homogeneous and isotropic, that is, ‘maximally symmetric’. After a discussion on maximally symmetric space, this chapter considers spacetimes with homogenous and isotropic sections. Finally, this chapter discusses Milne and de Sitter spacetimes.


1988 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Nick Kaiser

Fluctuations in the microwave background will have been imprinted at z ≃ 1000, when the photons and the plasma decoupled. On angular scales greater than a few degrees these fluctuations provide a clear view of any primordial density perturbations, and therefore a clean test of theories which invoke such fluctuations from which to form the structure we see in the universe. On smaller angular scales the predictions are less certain: reionization of the gas may modify the spectrum of the primordial fluctuations, and secondary fluctuations may be generated.Here I shall review some recent theoretical developments. A brief survey is made of the currently popular theories for the primordial perturbations, with emphasis on the predictions for large scale anisotropy. One major uncetainty in the predictions arises from the normalisation of the fluctuations to e.g. galaxy clustering, and much attention is given to the question of ‘biased’ galaxy formation. The effect of reionization on the primordial fluctuations is discussed, as is the anisotropy generated from scattering off hot gas in clusters, groups and galaxies.


Author(s):  
Robert R. Caldwell

The challenge to understand the physical origin of the cosmic acceleration is framed as a problem of gravitation. Specifically, does the relationship between stress–energy and space–time curvature differ on large scales from the predictions of general relativity. In this article, we describe efforts to model and test a generalized relationship between the matter and the metric using cosmological observations. Late-time tracers of large-scale structure, including the cosmic microwave background, weak gravitational lensing, and clustering are shown to provide good tests of the proposed solution. Current data are very close to proving a critical test, leaving only a small window in parameter space in the case that the generalized relationship is scale free above galactic scales.


Nature ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 319 (6056) ◽  
pp. 751-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Mandolesi ◽  
P. Calzolari ◽  
S. Cortiglioni ◽  
F. Delpino ◽  
G. Sironi ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 201 ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
Robert F. Silverberg ◽  

We have developed a balloon-borne experiment to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation anisotropy on angular scales from ˜50° down to ˜20′. The instrument observes at frequencies between 150 and 690 GHz and will be flown on an Antarctic circumpolar long duration flight. To greatly improve the experiment performance, the front-end of the experiment is mounted on the top of the balloon. With high sensitivity, broad sky coverage, and well-characterized systematic errors, the results of this experiment can be used to strongly constrain cosmological models and probe the early stages of large-scale structure formation in the Universe.


1988 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 293-300
Author(s):  
A.G. Doroshkevich ◽  
A.A. Klypin ◽  
M.U. Khlopov

Processes of the formation and the evolution of the large-scale structure are discussed in the framework of unstable dark matter models. Six numerical models are presented. The projected distribution of simulated galaxies on the sky, wedge diagrams, correlation functions and the mean linear scale of voids are presented. Physical background of the hypothesis of unstable particles and possible observational tests are discussed. The level of the microwave background fluctuations is estimated analytically. Special attention is given to late stage of supercluster evolution and galaxy formation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (4) ◽  
pp. 4357-4362
Author(s):  
M E Caplan

ABSTRACT In the far future, long after star formation has ceased, the universe will be populated by sparse degenerate remnants, mostly white dwarfs, though their ultimate fate is an open question. These white dwarfs will cool and freeze solid into black dwarfs while pycnonuclear fusion will slowly process their composition to iron-56. However, due to the declining electron fraction, the Chandrasekhar limit of these stars will be decreasing and will eventually be below that of the most massive black dwarfs. As such, isolated dwarf stars with masses greater than ∼1.2 M⊙ will collapse in the far future due to the slow accumulation of iron-56 in their cores. If proton decay does not occur, then this is the ultimate fate of about 1021 stars, approximately 1 percent of all stars in the observable universe. We present calculations of the internal structure of black dwarfs with iron cores as a model for progenitors. From pycnonuclear fusion rates, we estimate their lifetime and thus delay time to be 101100 yr. We speculate that high-mass black dwarf supernovae resemble accretion induced collapse of O/Ne/Mg white dwarfs while later low mass transients will be similar to stripped-envelope core-collapse supernova, and may be the last interesting astrophysical transients to occur prior to heat death.


1983 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 255-258
Author(s):  
R. D. Davies

A measurement of the motion of the Local Group of galaxies through the Universe provides an indication of their peculiar motion relative to the Hubble flow consequent upon the gravitational influence of the local large scale mass inhomogeneities. This motion can be measured either relative to the cosmic microwave background at z ∼ 1000 or relative to the background or nearby (z ∼ 0.01) galaxies. The interpretation of published measurements is subject to some uncertainty. As an example, the Local Group motion derived from optical studies of nearby galaxies (Rubin et al. 1976) differs from that derived from radio frequency measurements of the dipole anisotropy in the microwave background. (Boughn et al. 1981, Gorenstein & Smoot 1981).


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