Related papers: MAP and Planck vs the Real Universe

We investigate the anisotropy in cosmic microwave background Planck maps due to the coupling between its beam asymmetry and uneven scanning strategy. Introducing a pixel space estimator based on the temperature gradients, we find a highly…

Cosmic microwave background anisotropies provide a vast amount of cosmological information. Their full physical content and detailed structure can be understood in a simple and intuitive fashion through a systematic investigation of the…

The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) satellite, launched June 30, 2001, will produce full sky maps of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 5 frequency bands spanning 20 - 106 GHz. MAP contains 20 differential radiometers built with…

Empirical studies of the first generation of stars and quasars in the Universe will likely become feasible over the next decade. The Next Generation Space Telescope will provide direct imaging and photometry of sub-galactic objects at…

We study the apparent lack of power on large angular scales in the WMAP data. We confirm that although there is no apparent lack of power at large angular scales for the full-sky maps, the lowest multipoles of the WMAP data happen to have…

We use Bayesian model selection tools to forecast the Planck satellite's ability to distinguish between different models for the reionization history of the Universe, using the large angular scale signal in the cosmic microwave background…

Fundamental information about the Universe is encoded in anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. To make full use of this information, an experiment must image the entire sky with the angular resolution,…

Within the next several years, pulsar-timing array programs will likely usher in the next era of gravitational-wave astronomy through the detection of a stochastic background of nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves, originating from a…

We assess the accuracy with which future galaxy surveys can measure cosmological parameters by deriving a handy approximation that we validate numerically. We find that galaxy surveys are quite complementary to future Cosmic Microwave…

Measurement of cosmic microwave background polarization is today a major goal of observational cosmology. The level of the signal to measure, however, makes it very sensitive to various systematic effects. In the case of Planck, which…

The cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation from the early Universe, offers a unique window into both primordial conditions and the intervening large-scale structure (LSS) it traverses. Interactions between CMB photons and…

In addition to its spectrum and temperature anisotropy, the 2.7K Cosmic Microwave Background is also expected to exhibit a low level of polarization. The spatial power spectrum of the polarization can provide details about the formation of…

We impose constraints on the topology of the Universe determined from a search for matched circles in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy patterns of the 7-year WMAP data. We pay special attention to the sensitivity…

To minimize instrumentally induced systematic errors, cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy experiments measure temperature differences across the sky using paires of horn antennas, temperature map is recovered from temperature…

In this thesis we investigate several aspects related to the theory of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background. We develop a new algorithm to calculate the angular power spectrum of the anisotropies which is two orders of magnitude…

Forthcoming cosmic microwave background experiments (CMB) will provide precise new tests of structure-formation theories. The geometry of the Universe may be determined robustly, and the classical cosmological parameters, such as the…

Recent analyses of the WMAP data seem to indicate the possible presence of large-angle anisotropy in the Universe. If confirmed, these can have important consequences for our understanding of the Universe. A number of attempts have recently…

The recent data release of ESA's Planck mission together with earlier WMAP releases provide the first opportunity to compare high resolution full sky Cosmic Microwave Background temperature anisotropy maps. To quantify the coherence of…

The statistical properties of the temperature anisotropies and polarization of the of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation offer a powerful probe of the physics of the early universe. In recent works a statistical procedure based…

The theoretical basis for the prediction of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background is very well developed. Very low amplitude density and temperature perturbations produce small gravitational effects, leading to an anisotropy that…