Minkowski Functionals used in the Morphological Analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Maps
Abstract
We present a novel approach to quantifying the morphology of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy maps. As morphological descriptors, we use shape parameters known as Minkowski functionals. Using the mathematical framework provided by the theory of integral geometry on arbitrary curved supports, we point out the differences to their characterization and interpretation in the case of flat space. With restrictions of real data -- such as pixelization and incomplete sky coverage, to mention just a few -- in mind, we derive and test unbiased estimators for all Minkowski functionals. Various examples, among them the analysis of the four-year COBE DMR data, illustrate the application of our method.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9710185,
title = {Minkowski Functionals used in the Morphological Analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Maps},
author = {Jens Schmalzing and Krzysztof M. Gorski},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9710185},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
14 pages, 13 figures, most of which look better in color. Uses AMSTeX, epsf.sty, mncite.sty. Very minor changes to match version accepted for publication in MNRAS