Searching for concentric low variance circles in the cosmic microwave background

Journal Article · Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2015/12/031· OSTI ID:22525124

DeAbreu, Adam ^[1]; Contreras, Dagoberto; Scott, Douglas ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6 Canada (Canada)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1 Canada (Canada)

In a recent paper, Gurzadyan and Penrose claim to have found directions in the sky around which there are multiple concentric sets of annuli with anomalously low variance in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). These features are presented as evidence for a particular theory of the pre-Big Bang Universe. We are able to reproduce the analysis these authors presented for data from the WMAP satellite and we confirm the existence of these apparently special directions in the newer Planck data. However, we also find that these features are present at the same level of abundance in simulated Gaussian CMB skies, i.e., they are entirely consistent with the predictions of the standard cosmological model.

• OSTI ID: 22525124
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2015, Issue 12; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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