paper

Dodecahedral space topology as an explanation for weak wide-angle temperature correlations in the cosmic microwave background

arXiv:astro-ph/0310253 · doi:10.1038/nature01944

Abstract

Cosmology's standard model posits an infinite flat universe forever expanding under the pressure of dark energy. First-year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) confirm this model to spectacular precision on all but the largest scales (Bennett {\it et al.}, 2003 ; Spergel {\it et al.}, 2003). Temperature correlations across the microwave sky match expectations on scales narrower than , yet vanish on scales wider than . Researchers are now seeking an explanation of the missing wide-angle correlations (Contaldi {\it et al.}, 2003 ; Cline {\it et al.}, 2003). One natural approach questions the underlying geometry of space, namely its curvature (Efstathiou, 2003) and its topology (Tegmark {\it et al.}, 2003). In an infinite flat space, waves from the big bang would fill the universe on all length scales. The observed lack of temperature correlations on scales beyond means the broadest waves are missing, perhaps because space itself is not big enough to support them. Here we present a simple geometrical model of a finite, positively curved space -- the Poincaré dodecahedral space -- which accounts for WMAP's observations with no fine-tuning required. Circle searching (Cornish, Spergel and Starkman, 1998) may confirm the model's topological predictions, while upcoming Planck Surveyor data may confirm its predicted density of . If confirmed, the model will answer the ancient question of whether space is finite or infinite, while retaining the standard Friedmann-Lema\^ıtre foundation for local physics.

10 pages, 4 figures. This is a slightly longer version of the paper published in Nature 425, p. 593, 2003

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