Related papers: On Planck simulations: towards `2-nd order' analys…
We present a formalism for analyzing interferometric observations of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy and polarization data. The formalism is based upon the ell-space expansion of the angular power spectrum favoured in recent…
In the near future, observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies will provide accurate determinations of many fundamental cosmological parameters. In this paper, we analyse degeneracies among cosmological parameters to…
We characterize the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB)-lensing bispectrum which is one of the contributions to the three-point functions of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) maps in harmonic space. We show that the CIB-lensing bispectrum has…
We develop and examine the principles governing the formation of distortions in the cosmic microwave background. Distortions in the frequency or spectral distribution of the background probe the thermal history of the universe whereas those…
We investigate two possible explanations for the large-angle anomalies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): an intrinsically anisotropic model and an inhomogeneous model. We take as an example of the former a Bianchi model (which…
Modelling of the weak lensing of the CMB will be crucial to obtain correct cosmological parameter constraints from forthcoming precision CMB anisotropy observations. The lensing affects the power spectrum as well as inducing…
We review estimates of small scale fluctuations due to extragalactic point sources in the Planck Surveyor frequency bands. While our undestanding of the spectral and evolutionary properties of these sources is far from complete,…
Accurate measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy call for high precision and reliability of the in-flight calibration. For extended surveys the CMB dipole provides an excellent calibration source at frequencies…
Planck will be the first mission to map the entire cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky with mJy sensitivity and resolution better than 10'. The science enabled by such a mission spans many areas of astrophysics and cosmology. In…
We argue that the observed large-scale cosmic microwave anomalies, discovered by WMAP and confirmed by the Planck satellite, are most naturally explained in the context of a marginally-open universe. Particular focus is placed on the dipole…
Several anomalies appear to be present in the large-angle cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy maps of WMAP, including the alignment of large-scale multipoles. Models in which isotropy is spontaneously broken (e.g., by a scalar…
We use the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy data from Planck to constrain the spatial fluctuations of the fine-structure constant \alpha. Through Thompson scattering of CMB photons, spatial anisotropies of \alpha lead to…
Anomalies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps have been widely acquainted nowadays from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite to the Planck satellite. One of the anomalies is a multipole alignment from $l=2$ to…
The standard cosmological model is assumed to respect parity symmetry. Under this assumption the cross-correlations of the CMB's temperature anisotropy and `gradient'-like polarization, with the `curl'-like polarization identically vanish…
Working toward a model independent understanding of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies and their significance, we undertake a comprehensive and self-contained study of scalar perturbation theory. Initial conditions, evolution,…
We present results from the QMAP balloon experiment, which maps the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and probes its angular power spectrum on degree scales. In two separate flights, data were taken in six channels at two frequency bands…
Recent Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data confirm the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) quadrupole anomaly. We further elaborate our previous proposal that the quadrupole power can be naturally suppressed in axis-symmetric…
The two fundamental assumptions in cosmology are that the Universe is statistically homogeneous and isotropic when averaged on large scales. Given the big implication of these assumptions, there has been a lot of statistical tests carried…
We examine the constraints cosmological observations can place on any trans-Planckian corrections to the primordial spectrum of perturbations underlying the anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background. We focus on models of…
We perform a detailed comparison of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy with the predictions of quintessence cosmological models of…