On CCC-predicted concentric low-variance circles in the CMB sky

A new analysis of the CMB, using WMAP data, supports earlier indications of non-Gaussian features of concentric circles of low temperature variance. Conformal cyclic cosmology (CCC) predicts such features from supermassive black-hole encounters in an aeon preceding our Big Bang. The significance of individual low-variance circles in the true data has been disputed; yet a recent independent analysis has confirmed CCC's expectation that CMB circles have a non-Gaussian temperature distribution. Here we examine concentric sets of low-variance circular rings in the WMAP data, finding a highly non-isotropic distribution. A new "sky-twist" procedure, directly analysing WMAP data, without appeal to simulations, shows that the prevalence of these concentric sets depends on the rings being circular, rather than even slightly elliptical, numbers dropping off dramatically with increasing ellipticity. This is consistent with CCC's expectations; so also is the crucial fact that whereas some of the rings' radii are found to reach around $15^\circ$, none exceed $20^\circ$. The non-isotropic distribution of the concentric sets may be linked to previously known anomalous and non-Gaussian CMB features.