CMB observations from the CBI and VSA: A comparison of coincident maps and parameter estimation methods

Abstract

We present coincident observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from the Very Small Array (VSA) and Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) telescopes. The consistency of the full datasets is tested in the map plane and the Fourier plane, prior to the usual compression of CMB data into flat bandpowers. Of the three mosaics observed by each group, two are found to be in excellent agreement. In the third mosaic, there is a 2 sigma discrepancy between the correlation of the data and the level expected from Monte Carlo simulations. This is shown to be consistent with increased phase calibration errors on VSA data during summer observations. We also consider the parameter estimation method of each group. The key difference is the use of the variance window function in place of the bandpower window function, an approximation used by the VSA group. A re-evaluation of the VSA parameter estimates, using bandpower windows, shows that the two methods yield consistent results.

arXiv comment10 pages, 6 figures. Final version. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (23)

• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters
• Cosmological parameters from CMB and other data: a Monte-Carlo approach
• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Tests of Gaussianity
• Estimating the Power Spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background
• The Anisotropy of the Microwave Background to l = 3500: Deep Field Observations with the Cosmic Background Imager
• Extended Mosaic Observations with the Cosmic Background Imager
• The Anisotropy of the Microwave Background to l = 3500: Mosaic Observations with the Cosmic Background Imager
• High sensitivity measurements of the CMB power spectrum with the extended Very Small Array
• Estimates of Cosmological Parameters Using the CMB Angular Power Spectrum of ACBAR
• The Cosmic Background Imager
• 9C: A Survey of Radio Sources at 15 GHz with the Ryle Telescope
• Cosmological parameter estimation using Very Small Array data out to l=1500
• First results from the Very Small Array -- III. The CMB power spectrum
• First results from the Very Small Array -- I. Observational methods
• A Fast Gridded Method for the Estimation of the Power Spectrum of the CMB from Interferometer Data with Application to the Cosmic Background Imager
• Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Window Functions Revisited
• Maximum-likelihood estimation of the CMB power spectrum from interferometer observations
• First results from the Very Small Array -- IV. Cosmological parameter estimation
• Cosmological parameter estimation and Bayesian model comparison using VSA data
• First results from the Very Small Array -- II. Observations of the CMB
• Source subtraction for the extended Very Small Array and 33-GHz source count estimates
• Searching for non-Gaussianity in the VSA data
• Goodness-of-fit tests of Gaussianity: constraints on the cumulants of the MAXIMA data

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Primordial magnetogenesis
• Simulations of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect from Quasars
• Detecting Relic Gravitational Waves in the CMB: Comparison of Planck and Ground-based Experiments
• Data analysis methods for the cosmic microwave background