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.