A Test of the Copernican Principle

Abstract

The blackbody nature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation spectrum is used in a modern test of the Copernican Principle. The reionized universe serves as a mirror to reflect CMB photons, thereby permitting a view of ourselves and the local gravitational potential. By comparing with measurements of the CMB spectrum, a limit is placed on the possibility that we occupy a privileged location, residing at the center of a large void. The Hubble diagram inferred from lines-of-sight originating at the center of the void may be misinterpreted to indicate cosmic acceleration. Current limits on spectral distortions are shown to exclude the largest voids which mimic cosmic acceleration. More sensitive measurements of the CMB spectrum could prove the existence of such a void or confirm the validity of the Copernican Principle.

4 pages, 3 figures

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• Local Void vs Dark Energy: Confrontation with WMAP and Type Ia Supernovae
• Consistency test of general relativity from large scale structure of the Universe
• Luminosity distance in "Swiss cheese" cosmology with randomized voids: I. Single void size
• The radial BAO scale and Cosmic Shear, a new observable for Inhomogeneous Cosmologies
• Swiss Cheese and a Cheesy CMB
• Cosmic Parallax: possibility of detecting anisotropic expansion of the universe by very accurate astrometry measurements
• The Averaging Problem in Cosmology
• Probing violation of the Copernican principle via the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect
• Can the Copernican principle be tested by cosmic neutrino background?