Cosmic oddity casts doubt on theory of universe

Globeandmail.com ^ | 01/29/05 | DAN FALK

[AdmSmith]

It can be downloaded http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403353

[AdmSmith]

Here is more http://www.phys.cwru.edu/projects/mpvectors/

I have not read it yet.

[AntiGuv]

Lemme put it more simply: Something that can be understood by an average 2 year old ("let there be light") will always 'make more sense' than something that is difficult to comprehend for the average 22 year old (astrophysics).

[AdmSmith]

http://www.cerncourier.com/main/article/44/10/4

Does the motion of the solar system affect the microwave sky?

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation provides the most precise probe of the largest structures of the universe. Now, however, a team from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and CERN has discovered surprising evidence that the largest-scale features of the microwave sky seem to be correlated with both the motion and the orientation of the solar system (D J Schwarz et al. 2004).

WMAP microwave sky

The tiny temperature variations of the CMB were discovered by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite more than a decade ago. Then, in February 2003, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team published the analysis of their first year of high-resolution observations of the full sky. In a stunning manner, the results from WMAP confirmed the Standard Model of modern cosmology, with its key elements of a period of cosmological inflation and a composition of 5% baryons, 25% cold dark matter and 70% dark energy. One real surprise, however, was how WMAP showed that the optical depth for microwave photons is high, which implies an unexpected early onset for star formation.

A second look at the publicly available WMAP data reveals anomalies at the largest angular scales (> 60°). For example, the angular two-point correlation function vanishes at scales larger than 60° (as already seen by COBE, but largely forgotten). In Fourier space, the vanishing of the two-point correlation function at large scales is reflected by the smallness of the quadrupole and octopole moments. As we observe only one universe, it is possible to attribute these findings to bad luck (cosmic variance), although - taken at face value - the measurement does not agree with the expectation from inflation. In fact, the WMAP measurements contain more information. Angélica de Oliveira-Costa and colleagues studied the cosmic quadrupole and octopole and realized that both are very planar and aligned, i.e. all minima and maxima happen to fall on a great circle on the sky - another unexpected feature (de Oliveira-Costa et al. 2004).

Craig Copi, Dragan Huterer and Glenn Starkman of Case Western Reserve University then developed a method to assign 1 directions to the 1-th multipole (multipole vectors). While Starkman was on sabbatical at CERN, the team was joined by Dominik Schwarz, also at CERN at the time, to test the claims of de Oliveira-Costa et al. by means of multipole vectors.

To their surprise, the new method revealed at high statistical significance (99.9% CL) that the observed quadrupole and octopole are inconsistent with a Gaussian random, statistically isotropic sky (the generic prediction of inflation). They also looked for correlations with any known directions on the sky. No significant correlation with the Milky Way was found, but a strong correlation with the orientation of the solar system (ecliptic plane) and with its motion (measured as the CMB dipole) showed up.

A comparison with 100,000 skies generated by Monte Carlo shows that each of those correlations alone is unlikely at more than 99% CL. Therefore, there is strong evidence either of some systematic error in the WMAP pipeline (although in a preliminary analysis, the team is now discovering similar features in COBE maps), or that the largest scales of the microwave sky are dominated by a local foreground.

This finding has vast implications. It casts doubts on the cosmological interpretation of the lowest-1 multipoles from the temperature-temperature correlation and from the temperature-polarization correlation, and in turn on the claim that the first stars formed very early in the history of the universe.

Further reading


H K Eriksen et al. 2004 Astrophys. J. 605 14.
A de Oliveira-Costa et al. 2004 Phys. Rev. D 69 063516.
D J Schwarz et al. 2004 Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press), www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403353.

[AdmSmith]

Here is the figure



Pictured here is a combined quadrupole plus octopole map of the WMAP microwave sky in galactic co-ordinates, after subtracting the Milky Way. The ecliptic (dashed line) threads its way along the node line, separating one of the hot spots from one of the cold spots, tracking the node over a third of the sky. Extrema in the south are more extreme than those in the north ecliptic hemisphere; indications for such an anisotropy have also been noticed at higher multipoles (Eriksen et al. 2004).

[Phatnbald]

hey thats not in the bible- whay are you posting here ?

[PatrickHenry]

Thanks for the link.

[AdmSmith]

I am not so sure about this article, it might be errors in the raw data. We have to wait until 2007 until we get better info: http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php?project=PLANCK

Planck Science Team Home

Planck was selected as the third Medium-Sized Mission (M3) of ESA's Horizon 2000 Scientific Programme, and is today part of its Cosmic Vision Programme. It is designed to image the anisotropies of the Cosmic Background Radiation Field over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues, such as testing theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure. The scientific development of the mission is directed by the Planck Science Team.

Planck was formerly called COBRAS/SAMBA. After the mission was selected and approved (in late 1996), it was renamed in honor of the German scientist Max Planck (1858-1947), Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918.

It is planned to launch Planck in the first quarter of 2007 together with the Herschel satellite. After launch, Planck and FIRST will separate and will be placed in different orbits around the second Lagrangian point of the Earth-Sun System.

[PatrickHenry]

No significant correlation with the Milky Way was found, but a strong correlation with the orientation of the solar system (ecliptic plane) and with its motion (measured as the CMB dipole) showed up. [snip] Therefore, there is strong evidence either of some systematic error in the WMAP pipeline (although in a preliminary analysis, the team is now discovering similar features in COBE maps), or that the largest scales of the microwave sky are dominated by a local foreground.

This finding has vast implications.

Indeed.

[AndrewC]

Lemme put it more simply: Something that can be understood by an average 2 year old ("let there be light") will always 'make more sense' than something that is difficult to comprehend for the average 22 year old (astrophysics).

AHA!! So it was a government conspiracy that brought down the twin towers and not a group of nuts.

[AndrewC]

To their surprise, the new method revealed at high statistical significance (99.9% CL) that the observed quadrupole and octopole are inconsistent with a Gaussian random, statistically isotropic sky (the generic prediction of inflation)

Sounds like a death penalty to me, but I doubt that the sentence will be carried out.

[Physicist]

"Let there be light," still makes more sense to me than any theory I've heard from the goofball scientists.

Similarly, when children ask where babies come from, the answer "the stork brings them" makes more sense to them than any nonsense about sexual reproduction.

[AndrewC]

Similarly, when children ask where babies come from, the answer "the stork brings them" makes more sense to them than any nonsense about sexual reproduction.

But there is a big difference in the two situations. Adults all agree on where babies do come from.

[Lancey Howard]

Similarly, when children ask where babies come from, the answer "the stork brings them" makes more sense to them than any nonsense about sexual reproduction.

No, there is no similarity. Most children (I'll presume you mean 3 - 5 year-olds) wouldn't even be able to distinguish between "the stork brings them" and "nonsense about sexual reproduction".

[Boiler Plate]

Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[Physicist]

This is not really news. Here is an FR thread from two years ago about the anomalous CMBR octupole moment.

[Physicist]

But there is a big difference in the two situations. Adults all agree on where babies do come from.

It is exactly analogous. Adults agree on the basics of reproduction, but aren't clear on every detail. Physicists agree on the basics of cosmology, but aren't clear on every detail.

If any adult has a child's understanding of cosmology, it is a matter of choice.

[AndrewC]

Physicists agree on the basics of cosmology, but aren't clear on every detail.

Oh really? Inflation is just a detail?

[LogicWings]

I appreciate the ping.

I was wondering when this scenario would come crashing down, as it must.

Something exists now. Something had to always exist.

Not a popular view, I know.

[fish hawk]

I'll never forget Carl Sagans TV special several years ago. His first sentence was: "Evolution is a fact!". He went to his grave fooing himself. I'll bet now he knows if there is a God.