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Could multiple voids explain the cosmic microwave background Cold Spot anomaly?

Journal Article · · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom)
  2. Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Sorbonne Univ., Paris (France); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Understanding the observed Cold Spot (CS) (temperature of ~ -150 mu K at its centre) on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is an outstanding problem. Explanations vary from assuming it is just a ≳ 3σ primordial Gaussian fluctuation to the imprint of a supervoid via the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe and Rees-Sciama (ISW+RS) effects. Since single spherical supervoids cannot account for the full profile, the ISW+RS of multiple line-of-sight voids is studied here to mimic the structure of the cosmic web. Two structure configurations are considered. The first, through simulations of 20 voids, produces a central mean temperature of ~-50 mu K. In this model the central CS temperature lies at ~ 2σ but fails to explain the CS hot ring. An alternative multi-void model (using more pronounced compensated voids) produces much smaller temperature profiles, but contains a prominent hot ring. Arrangements containing closely placed voids at low redshift are found to be particularly well suited to produce CS-like profiles. We then measure the significance of the CS if CS-like profiles (which are fitted to the ISW+RS of multi-void scenarios) are removed. Furthermore, the CS tension with the LCDM model can be reduced dramatically for an array of temperature profiles smaller than the CS itself.
Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11359
OSTI ID:
1330372
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB--15-651-A; arXiv:1512.02694; 1408837
Journal Information:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Journal Name: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 459; ISSN 1745-3925
Publisher:
Royal Astronomical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (5)

Cosmic troublemakers: the Cold Spot, the Eridanus supervoid, and the Great Walls journal July 2016
Probing supervoids with weak lensing journal January 2018
Massive neutrinos leave fingerprints on cosmic voids journal July 2019
More out of less: an excess integrated Sachs–Wolfe signal from supervoids mapped out by the Dark Energy Survey journal February 2019
More out of less: an excess integrated Sachs-Wolfe signal from supervoids mapped out by the Dark Energy Survey text January 2018

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