Related papers: Approximating the Likelihood Function of CMB Exper…
Using an approximate likelihood method adapted to band--power estimates, we analyze the ensemble of first generation cosmic microwave background anisotropy experiments to deduce constraints over a six--dimensional parameter space describing…
Several cosmological measurements have attained significant levels of maturity and accuracy over the last decade. Continuing this trend, future observations promise measurements of the statistics of the cosmic mass distribution at an…
We use a high-accuracy computational code to investigate the precision with which cosmological parameters could be reconstructed by future cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments, in particular the two satellite missions MAP and…
Recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements over a large range of angular scales have become sensitive enough to provide interesting constraints on cosmological parameters within a restricted class of models. We use the CMB…
We describe an approximate statistical model for the sample variance distribution of the non-linear matter power spectrum that can be calibrated from limited numbers of simulations. Our model retains the common assumption of a multivariate…
Anomalies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) refer to features that have been observed, mostly at large angular scales, and which show some tension with the statistical predictions of the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. In this work, we…
Minkowski functionals are summary statistics that capture the geometric and morphological properties of fields. They are sensitive to all higher order correlations of the fields and can be used to complement more conventional statistics,…
The cosmic microwave background temperature is a cornerstone astrophysical observable. Its present value is tightly constrained, but its redshift dependence, which can now be determined until redshift $z\sim6.34$, is also an important probe…
Recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies by BOOMERANG and MAXIMA collaborations have tightened the observational constraints on theories of structure formation. They disagree with the predictions of…
We present a new general procedure for determining a given set of quantities. To this end, we define certain statistic, that we call 'modified $\chi^2$' ($\chi^2_M$), because of its similarity with the standard $\chi^2$. The terms of this…
The Planck experiment will soon provide a very accurate measurement of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies. This will let cosmologists determine most of the cosmological parameters with unprecedented accuracy. Future experiments will…
We use Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations together with the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (RCS) weak lensing results to derive constraints on a range of cosmological parameters. This particular choice of observations is motivated…
We propose a formalism for estimating the skewness and angular power spectrum of a general Cosmic Microwave Background data set. We use the Edgeworth Expansion to define a non-Gaussian likelihood function that takes into account the…
We present a simple, yet accurate approximation for calculating the cosmic microwave background anisotropy power spectrum in adiabatic models. It consists of solving for the evolution of a two-fluid model until the epoch of recombination…
The Cosmological Principle assumes a statistically isotropic Universe, but the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) exhibits some anomalous statistical features, such as the hemispherical power asymmetry, that challenge this core assumption.…
The interpretation of cosmological observables requires the use of increasingly sophisticated theoretical models. Since these models are becoming computationally very expensive and display non-trivial uncertainties, the use of standard…
As the era of high precision cosmology approaches, the empirically determined power spectrum of the microwave background anisotropy $C_l$ will provide a crucial test for cosmological theories. We present an exact semi-analytic framework for…
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is an abundant source of cosmological information. However, this information is encoded in non-trivial ways in a signal that is difficult to observe. The resulting challenges in extracting this…
Estimation of the angular power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) on a small patch of sky is usually plagued by serious spectral leakage, specially when the map has a hard edge. Even on a full sky map, point source masks can…
Cosmic microwave background observations are most commonly analyzed by estimating the power spectrum. In the limit where the CMB statistics are perfectly Gaussian, this extracts all the information, but the CMB also contains detectable…