Related papers: The correlation of peaks in the microwave backgrou…
We compute precise predictions for the two-point correlation function of local maxima (or minima) in the temperature of the microwave background, under the assumption that it is a random gaussian field. For a given power spectrum and peak…
A Gaussian distribution of cosmic microwave background temperature fluctuations is a generic prediction of inflation. Upcoming high-resolution maps of the microwave background will allow detailed tests of Gaussianity down to small angular…
We study the polarization-temperature correlations on the cosmic microwave sky resulting from an initial scale invariant spectrum of tensor (gravity wave) fluctuations, such as those which might arise during inflation. The correlation…
The bispectrum of the microwave background sky is a possible discriminator between inflationary and defect models of structure formation in the Universe. The bispectrum, which is the analogue of the temperature 3-point correlation function…
Inflationary models predict a definite, model independent, angular dependence for the three-point correlation function of $\Delta T/T$ at large angles (greater than $\sim 1^\circ$) which we calculate. The overall amplitude is model…
We calculate the bispectrum of the gravitational field fluctuations generated during warm inflation, where dissipation of the vacuum potential during inflation is the mechanism for structure formation. The bispectrum is non--zero because of…
We discuss a new test of inflation from the harmonic pattern of peaks in the cosmic microwave background radiation angular power spectrum. By characterizing the features of alternate models and revealing signatures essentially unique to…
I discuss the interplay between inflation and microwave background anisotropies, stressing in particular the accuracy with which inflation predictions need to be made, and the importance of inflation as an underlying paradigm for…
The upcoming satellite missions MAP and Planck will measure the spectrum of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background with unprecedented accuracy. We discuss the prospect of using these observations to distinguish among proposed…
Many analyses of microwave background experiments neglect the correlation of noise in different frequency or polarization channels. We show that these correlations, should they be present, can lead to severe misinterpretation of an…
Two-point correlation functions of cosmic microwave background polarization provide a physically independent probe of the surprising suppression of correlations in the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies at large angular…
We cross-correlate the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy maps from the WMAP, MAXIMA-I, and MAXIMA-II experiments. We use the cross-spectrum, which is the spherical harmonic transform of the angular two-point correlation…
Various issues concerning the impact of inflationary models on parameter estimation from the cosmic microwave background are reviewed, with particular focus on the range of possible outcomes of inflationary models and on the amount which…
We construct a class of single small field models of inflation that can predict, contrary to popular wisdom, an observable gravitational wave signal in the cosmic microwave background anisotropies. The spectral index, its running, the…
We study the effect of a finite topology on the temperature correlations of the cosmic microwave background in a flat universe. Analytic expressions for the angular power spectrum are given for all possible finite flat models. We examine…
If cosmic magnetic fields are indeed produced during inflation, they are likely to be correlated with the scalar metric perturbations that are responsible for the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies and Large Scale Structure. Within an…
Microwave background temperature and polarization observations are a powerful way to constrain cosmological parameters if the likelihood function can be calculated accurately. The temperature and polarization fields are correlated, partial…
We investigate the weak gravitational lensing effect due to the large-scale structure of the universe on two-point correlations of local maxima ({\em hotspots}) in the 2D sky map of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy.…
The evolution of high order correlation functions of a test scalar field in arbitrary inflationary backgrounds is computed. Whenever possible, exact results are derived from quantum field theory calculations. Taking advantage of the fact…
Full-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background temperature reveal a 7% asymmetry of fluctuation power between two halves of the sky. A common phenomenological model for this asymmetry is an overall dipole modulation of statistically…