Correlating anomalies of the microwave sky: The Good, the Evil and the Axis

Abstract

At the largest angular scales the presence of a number of unexpected features has been confirmed by the latest measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Among them are the anomalous alignment of the quadrupole and octopole with each other as well as the stubborn lack of angular correlation on scales >60deg. We search for correlations between these two phenomena and demonstrate their absence. A Monte Carlo likelihood analysis confirms previous studies and shows that the joint likelihood of both anomalies is incompatible with the best-fit Lambda Cold Dark Matter model at >99.95% C.L. At the same time, a presumed special axis (the `Axis of Evil') identified on the microwave sky demands additional contributions to multipole power on top of the primordial standard inflationary ones. We find that the notion of a preferred axis in the CMB is misleading and inconsistent with three-year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Rather the data require a preferred plane, whereupon the axis is just the normal direction to that plane. Rotational symmetry within that plane is inconsistent with the observations and is ruled out at high confidence.

arXiv comment9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; revtex4; v3: improved presentation and new comments

References in corpus (17)

• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters
• The significance of the largest scale CMB fluctuations in WMAP
• The axis of evil
• Is the low-l microwave background cosmic?
• Dark Energy Anisotropic Stress and Large Scale Structure Formation
• Imprints of a Primordial Preferred Direction on the Microwave Background
• Multipole Vectors--a new representation of the CMB sky and evidence for statistical anisotropy or non-Gaussianity at 2<=l<=8
• On the large-angle anomalies of the microwave sky
• The Uncorrelated Universe: Statistical Anisotropy and the Vanishing Angular Correlation Function in WMAP Years 1-3
• Spontaneous Isotropy Breaking: A Mechanism for CMB Multipole Alignments
• Ellipsoidal Universe Can Solve The CMB Quadrupole Problem
• 2-Point Correlations in the COBE DMR 4-Year Anisotropy Maps
• Local Voids as the Origin of Large-angle Cosmic Microwave Background Anomalies I
• CMB multipole measurements in the presence of foregrounds
• Anisotropic perturbations due to dark energy
• Microwave sky and the local Rees-Sciama effect
• Occam's razor meets WMAP

Cited by in corpus (51)

• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Inflationary Cosmology
• CMB Anomalies after Planck
• Large-angle anomalies in the CMB
• Cosmic Microwave Background Quadrupole and Ellipsoidal Universe
• LRS Bianchi Type I Models with Anisotropic Dark Energy and Constant Deceleration Parameter
• No large-angle correlations on the non-Galactic microwave sky
• Anomalous parity asymmetry of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe power spectrum data at low multipoles
• Inflation from N-Forms and its stability
• Large-scale alignments from WMAP and Planck
• A Model of Universe Anisotropization
• Anomalous parity asymmetry of WMAP power spectrum data at low multpoles: is it cosmological or systematics?
• Tests and problems of the standard model in Cosmology
• The CMB Quadrupole depression produced by early fast-roll inflation: MCMC analysis of WMAP and SDSS data
• Anisotropic dark energy and ellipsoidal universe
• The axis of evil - a polarization perspective
• Anomalous CMB north-south asymmetry
• Dark energy as a mirage
• The Effective Theory of Inflation in the Standard Model of the Universe and the CMB+LSS data analysis
• Translational Invariance and the Anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Covariance of CMB anomalies
• Testing Isotropy in the Local Universe
• 'Tilting' the Universe with the Landscape Multiverse: The 'Dark' Flow
• Can a primordial magnetic field originate large-scale anomalies in WMAP data?
• Angular Correlation of the CMB in the R_h=ct Universe
• Generalized LTB model with Inhomogeneous Isotropic Dark Energy: Observational Constraints
• Cosmic Parallax in Ellipsoidal Universe
• Perturbations in electromagnetic dark energy
• The Topology and Size of the Universe from the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Pearson's random walk in the space of the CMB phases: evidence for parity asymmetry
• Evidence of Quasi-linear Super-Structures in the Cosmic Microwave Background and Galaxy Distribution
• Harmonic in-painting of CMB sky by constrained Gaussian realization
• Can residuals of the Solar system foreground explain low multipole anomalies of the CMB ?
• Is the cold spot responsible for the CMB North-South asymmetry?
• Symmetry and anti-symmetry of the CMB anisotropy pattern
• Flat Universe with Hyperbolic Voids
• Probability Density of the Multipole Vectors for a Gaussian Cosmic Microwave Background
• Effect of Foregrounds on the CMBR Multipole Alignment
• Large scale vector modes and the first CMB temperature multipoles
• Some doubts on the validity of the foreground Galactic contribution subtraction from microwave anisotropies
• Correlation of supernova redshifts with temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Statistical Isotropy violation of the CMB brightness fluctuations
• Search for a direction in the forest of Lyman-$\alpha$
• The primordial "f_NL" non-Gaussianity, and perturbations beyond the present horizon
• Limits on Semiclassical Fluctuations in the Primordial Universe
• Large Scale Anomalies in the Microwave Background: Causation and Correlation
• CMB Anomalies from Imperfect Dark Energy: Confrontation with the Data
• Killing vectors and anisotropy
• Statistics of the Planck CMB signal in direction of gamma-ray bursts from the BATSE and BeppoSAX catalogs
• Orbifold construction of the modes of the Poincare dodecahedral space
• Nonlinear Spinor Fields in LRS Bianchi type-I spacetime: Theory and observation