Systematic Distortion in Cosmic Microwave Background Maps

Abstract

To minimize instrumentally induced systematic errors, cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy experiments measure temperature differences across the sky using paires of horn antennas, temperature map is recovered from temperature differences obtained in sky survey through a map-making procedure. To inspect and calibrate residual systematic errors in recovered temperature maps is important as most previous studies of cosmology are based on these maps. By analyzing pixel-ring couping and latitude dependence of CMB temperatures, we find notable systematic deviation from CMB Gaussianity in released Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) maps. The detected deviation is hard to explain by any process in the early universe and can not be ignored for a precision cosmology study.

accepted for publication in Sci China G-Phy Mech Astron

References in corpus (5)

• HEALPix -- a Framework for High Resolution Discretization, and Fast Analysis of Data Distributed on the Sphere
• The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) Mission
• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Data Processing Methods and Systematic Errors Limits
• Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Beam Profiles, Data Processing, Radiometer Characterization and Systematic Error Limits
• The N-point correlation functions of the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe sky maps

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Bayesian analysis of an anisotropic universe model: systematics and polarization
• Observation number correlation in WMAP data
• Bias in low-multipole CMB reconstructions
• Pseudo-Dipole Signal Removal from WMAP Data
• Improved CMB Map from WMAP Data
• Inconsistency between WMAP data and released map
• Dark Energy Cosmology with the Alternative Cosmic Microwave Background Data
• Hot pixel contamination in the CMB correlation function?
• New evidence for lack of CMB power on large scales
• Diagnosing Timing Error in WMAP Data