Is the Universe odd?
- Theoretical Physics Group, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BZ (United Kingdom)
- Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline St. N., Waterloo, N2L 2Y5 (Canada)
We investigate the point-parity and mirror-parity handedness of the large angle anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In particular we consider whether the observed low CMB quadrupole could more generally signal odd point-parity, i.e., suppression of even multipoles. Even though this feature is 'visually' present in most renditions of the WMAP dataset we find that it never supports parity preference beyond the meagre 95% confidence level. This is fortunate as point-parity handedness implies almost certainly a high level of galactic contamination. Mirror reflection parity, on the contrary, is related to the emergence of a preferred axis, defining the symmetry plane. We use this technique to make contact with recent claims for an anisotropic Universe, showing that the detected preferred axis is associated with positive (even) mirror parity. This feature may be an important clue in identifying the culprit for this unexpected signal.
- OSTI ID:
- 20711513
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 72, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.72.101302; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Can residuals of the solar system foreground explain low multipole anomalies of the CMB?
Searching for hidden mirror symmetries in CMB fluctuations from WMAP 7 year maps