arXiv subjects

A. Kogut

Publications and source records attributed to A. Kogut.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv1996

Monte Carlo Simulations of Medium-Scale CMB Anisotropy

Recent detections of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy at half-degree angular scales show considerable scatter in the reported amplitude even at similar angular resolution. We use Monte Carlo techniques to simulate the current set of medium-scale CMB observations, including all relevant aspects of sky coverage and measurement technique. The scatter in the reported amplitudes is well within the range expected for the standard cold dark matter (CDM) cosmological model, and results primarily from the restricted sky coverage of each experiment. Within the context of standard CDM current observations of CMB anisotropy support the detection of a ``Doppler peak'' in the CMB power spectrum consistent with baryon density 0.01 < Omega_b < 0.13 (95% confidence) for Hubble constant H_0 = 50 km/s/Mpc. The uncertainties are approximately evenly divided between instrument noise and cosmic variance arising from the limited sky coverage.

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arXiv1996

Calibration and Systematic Error Analysis For the COBE-DMR Four-Year Sky Maps

The Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) instrument aboard the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) has mapped the full microwave sky to mean sensitivity 26 uK per 7 deg field of view. The absolute calibration is determined to 0.7% with drifts smaller than 0.2% per year. We have analyzed both the raw differential data and the pixelized sky maps for evidence of contaminating sources such as solar system foregrounds, instrumental susceptibilities, and artifacts from data recovery and processing. Most systematic effects couple only weakly to the sky maps. The largest uncertainties in the maps result from the instrument susceptibility to the Earth's magnetic field, microwave emission from the Earth, and upper limits to potential effects at the spacecraft spin period. Systematic effects in the maps are small compared to either the noise or the celestial signal: the 95% confidence upper limit for the pixel-pixel rms from all identified systematics is less than 6 uK in the worst channel. A power spectrum analysis of the (A-B)/2 difference maps shows no evidence for additional undetected systematic effects.

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arXiv1996

RMS Anisotropy in the COBE-DMR Four-Year Sky Maps

The sky-RMS is the simplest model-independent characterization of a cosmological anisotropy signal. The RMS temperature fluctuations determined from the $COBE$-DMR four-year sky maps are frequency independent, consistent with the hypothesis that they are cosmological in origin, with a typical amplitude at 7 degrees of ~ 35 \pm\ 2 uK and at 10 degrees of ~29 \pm\ 1 uK. A joint analysis of the 7 deg and 10 deg "cross"-RMS derived from the data in both Galactic and Ecliptic coordinates is used to determine the RMS quadrupole normalization, $Q_{rms-PS}$, for a scale-invariant Harrison-Zel'dovich power law model. The difference in the inferred normalizations either including or excluding the quadrupole is a consequence of the sensitivity of the method to the Galaxy contaminated observed sky quadrupole. Whilst there are variations depending on the data selection, all results are consistent with an inferred \qrms\ normalization of ~18 \pm\ 2 uK.

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arXiv1996

Microwave Emission at High Galactic Latitudes

We use the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) 4-year sky maps to model Galactic microwave emission at high latitudes (|b| > 20 deg). Cross-correlation of the DMR maps with Galactic template maps detects fluctuations in the high-latitude microwave sky brightness with the angular variation of the DIRBE far-infrared dust maps and a frequency dependence consistent with a superposition of dust and free-free emission. We find no significant correlations between the DMR maps and various synchrotron templates. On the largest angular scales (e.g., quadrupole), Galactic emission is comparable in amplitude to the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The CMB quadrupole amplitude, after correction for Galactic emission, has amplitude $Q_{rms}$ = 10.7 uK with random uncertainty 3.6 uK and systematic uncertainty 7.1 uK from uncertainty in our knowledge of Galactic microwave emission.

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arXiv1996

Band Power Spectra in the COBE DMR 4-Year Anisotropy Maps

We employ a pixel-based likelihood technique to estimate the angular power spectrum of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) 4-year sky maps. The spectrum is consistent with a scale-invariant power-law form with a normalization, expressed in terms of the expected quadrupole anisotropy, of Q_{rms-PS|n=1} = 18 +/- 1.4 uK, and a best-fit spectral index of 1.2 +/- 0.3. The normalization is somewhat smaller than we concluded from the 2-year data, mainly due to additional Galactic modeling. We extend the analysis to investigate the extent to which the ``small" quadrupole observed in our sky is statistically consistent with a power-law spectrum. The most likely quadrupole amplitude is somewhat dependent on the details of Galactic foreground subtraction and data selection, ranging between 7 and 10 uK, but in no case is there compelling evidence that the quadrupole is too small to be consistent with a power-law spectrum. We conclude with a likelihood analysis of the band power amplitude in each of four spectral bands between l = 2 and 40, and find no evidence for deviations from a simple power-law spectrum.

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arXiv1996

4-Year COBE DMR Cosmic Microwave Background Observations: Maps and Basic Results

The cosmic microwave background radiation provides unique constraints on cosmological models. In this Letter we present a summary of the spatial properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation based on the full 4 years of COBE DMR observations, as detailed in a set of companion Letters. The anisotropy is consistent with a scale-invariant power law model and Gaussian statistics. With full use of the multi-frequency 4-year DMR data, including our estimate of the effects of Galactic emission, we find a power-law spectral index of $n=1.2\pm 0.3$ and a quadrupole normalization $Q_{rms-PS}=15.3^{+3.8}_{-2.8}$ $μ$K. For $n=1$ the best-fit normalization is $Q_{rms-PS}\vert_{n=1}=18\pm 1.6$ $μ$K. These values are consistent with both our previous 1-year and 2-year results. The results include use of the $\ell=2$ quadrupole term; exclusion of this term gives consistent results, but with larger uncertainties. The 4-year sky maps, presented in this Letter, portray an accurate overall visual impression of the anisotropy since the signal-to-noise ratio is ~2 per 10 degree sky map patch. The improved signal-to-noise ratio of the 4-year maps also allows for improvements in Galactic modeling and limits on non-Gaussian statistics.

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arXiv1996

2-Point Correlations in the COBE DMR 4-Year Anisotropy Maps

The 2-point temperature correlation function is evaluated from the 4-year COBE DMR microwave anisotropy maps. We examine the 2-point function, which is the Legendre transform of the angular power spectrum, and show that the data are statistically consistent from channel to channel and frequency to frequency. The most likely quadrupole normalization is computed for a scale-invariant power-law spectrum of CMB anisotropy, using a variety of data combinations. For a given data set, the normalization inferred from the 2-point data is consistent with that inferred by other methods. The smallest and largest normalization deduced from any data combination are 16.4 and 19.6 uK respectively, with a value ~18 uK generally preferred.

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arXiv1996

Power Spectrum of Primordial Inhomogeneity Determined from the 4-Year COBE DMR Sky Maps

Fourier analysis and power spectrum estimation of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy on an incompletely sampled sky developed by Gorski (1994) has been applied to the high-latitude portion of the 4-year COBE DMR 31.5, 53 and 90 GHz sky maps. Likelihood analysis using newly constructed Galaxy cuts (extended beyond |b| = 20deg to excise the known foreground emission) and simultaneously correcting for the faint high latitude galactic foreground emission is conducted on the DMR sky maps pixelized in both ecliptic and galactic coordinates. The Bayesian power spectrum estimation from the foreground corrected 4-year COBE DMR data renders n ~ 1.2 +/- 0.3, and Q_{rms-PS} ~ 15.3^{+3.7}_{-2.8} microK (projections of the two-parameter likelihood). These results are consistent with the Harrison-Zel'dovich n=1 model of amplitude Q_{rms-PS} ~ 18 microK detected with significance exceeding 14sigma (dQ/Q < 0.07). (A small power spectrum amplitude drop below the published 2-year results is predominantly due to the application of the new, extended Galaxy cuts.)

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arXiv1996

Tests for Non-Gaussian Statistics in the DMR Four-Year Sky Maps

We search the high-latitude portion of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) 4-year sky maps for evidence of a non-Gaussian temperature distribution in the cosmic microwave background. The genus, 3-point correlation function, and 2-point correlation function of temperature maxima and minima are all in excellent agreement with the hypothesis that the CMB anisotropy on angular scales of 7 degrees or larger represents a random-phase Gaussian field. A likelihood comparison of the DMR sky maps to a set of random-phase non-Gaussian toy models selects the exact Gaussian model as most likely. Monte Carlo simulations show that the 2-point correlation of the peaks and valleys in the maps provides the greatest discrimination among the class of models tested.

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arXiv1996

Non-cosmological Signal Contributions to the COBE-DMR Four-Year Sky Maps

We limit the possible contributions from non-cosmological sources to the COBE-DMR four-year sky maps. The DMR data are cross-correlated with maps of rich clusters, extragalactic IRAS sources, HEAO-1 A-2 X-ray emission and 5 GHz radio sources using a Fourier space technique. There is no evidence of significant contamination by such sources at an rms level of ~8 uK (95% confidence level at 7 degree resolution) in the most sensitive 53 GHz sky map. This level is consistent with previous limits set by analysis of earlier DMR data and by simple extrapolations from existing source models. We place a 95% confidence level rms limit on the Comptonization parameter averaged over the high-latitude sky of $δy\ <\ 1\ \times\ 10^{-6}$. Extragalactic sources have an insignificant effect on CMB power spectrum parameterizations determined from the DMR data.

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arXiv1995

High-Latitude Galactic Emission in the COBE DMR Two-Year Sky Maps

We cross-correlate the COBE-DMR 2-year sky maps with spatial templates from long-wavelength radio surveys and the far-infrared COBE DIRBE maps. We place an upper limit on the spectral index of synchrotron radiation beta_{synch} < -2.9 between 408 MHz and 31.5 GHz. We obtain a statistically significant cross-correlation with the DIRBE maps whose dependence on the DMR frequencies indicates a superposition of dust and free-free emission. The high-latitude dust emission (|b| > 30 deg) is well fitted by a single dust component with temperature T = 18 (+3, -7) K and emissivity epsilon ~ nu^beta with beta = 1.9 (+3.0, -0.5). The free-free emission is spatially correlated with the dust on angular scales larger than the 7 degree DMR beam, with rms variations 5.3 +/- 1.8 uK at 53 GHz and angular power spectrum P ~ ell^{-3}. If this correlation persists to smaller angular scales, free-free emission should not be a significant contaminant to measurements of the cosmic microwave anisotropy at degree angular scales for frequencies above 20 GHz.

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arXiv1995

Field Ordering and Energy Density in Texture Cosmology

We use numerical simulations of the time evolution of global textures to investigate the relationship between ordering dynamics and energy density in an expanding universe. Events in which individual textures become fully wound are rare. The energy density is dominated by the more numerous partially wound configurations, with median topological charge alpha ~ 0.44. This verifies the recent supposition (Borrill et al. 1994) that such partially wound configurations should dominate the cosmic microwave background.

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arXiv1995

Three-Point Correlations in the COBE-DMR Two-Year Anisotropy Maps

We compute the three-point temperature correlation function of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) two-year sky maps to search for evidence of non-Gaussian temperature fluctuations. We detect three-point correlations in our sky with a substantially higher signal-to-noise ratio than from the first year data. However, the magnitude of the signal is consistent with the level of cosmic variance expected from Gaussian fluctuations, even when the low order multipole moments, up to l = 9, are filtered from the data. These results do not strongly constrain most existing models of structure formation, but the absence of intrinsic three-point correlations on large angular scales is an important consistency test for such models.

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arXiv1994

On the RMS Anisotropy at 7 degrees and 10 degrees Observed in the COBE-DMR Two Year Sky Maps

The frequency-independent RMS temperature fluctuations determined from the COBE-DMR two year sky maps are used to infer the parameter Q_{rms-PS}, which characterizes the normalization of power law models of primordial cosmological temperature anisotropy. In particular, a 'cross'-RMS statistic is used to determine Q_{rms-PS} for a forced fit to a scale-invariant Harrison-Zel'dovich (n = 1) spectral model. Using a joint analysis of the 7 degree and 10 degree RMS temperature derived from both the 53 and 90 GHz sky maps, we find Q_{rms-PS} = 17.0^{+2.5}_{-2.1} uK when the low quadrupole is included, and Q_{rms-PS} = 19.4^{+2.3}_{-2.1} uK excluding the quadrupole. These results are consistent with the n = 1 fits from more sensitive methods (e.g. power spectrum, correlation function). The effect of the low quadrupole derived from the COBE-DMR data on the inferred Q_{rms-PS} normalization is investigated. A bias to lower Q_{rms-PS} is found when the quadrupole is included. The higher normalization for a forced n = 1 fit is then favored by the cross-RMS technique. As initially pointed out in Wright et al. (1994a) and further discussed here, analytic formulae for the RMS sky temperature fluctuations will NOT provide the correct normalization amplitude.

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arXiv1994

Gaussian Statistics of the Cosmic Microwave Background: Correlation of Temperature Extrema In the COBE DMR Two-Year Sky Maps

We use the two-point correlation function of the extrema points (peaks and valleys) in the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) 2-year sky maps as a test for non-Gaussian temperature distribution in the cosmic microwave background anisotropy. A maximum likelihood analysis compares the DMR data to n=1 toy models whose random-phase spherical harmonic components $a_{\ell m}$ are drawn from either Gaussian, $χ^2$, or log-normal parent populations. The likelihood of the 53 GHz (A+B)/2 data is greatest for the exact Gaussian model. All non-Gaussian models tested are ruled out at 90\% confidence, limited by type II errors in the statistical inference. The extrema correlation function is a stronger test for this class of non-Gaussian models than topological statistics such as the genus.

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arXiv1994

CMB Maps at 0.5 degree Resolution I: Full-Sky Simulations and Basic Results

We have simulated full-sky maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy expected from Cold Dark Matter (CDM) models at 0.5 and 1.0 degree angular resolution. Statistical properties of the maps are presented as a function of sky coverage, angular resolution, and instrument noise, and the implications of these results for observability of the Doppler peak are discussed. The rms fluctuations in a map are not a particularly robust probe of the existence of a Doppler peak, however, a full correlation analysis can provide reasonable sensitivity. We find that sensitivity to the Doppler peak depends primarily on the fraction of sky covered, and only secondarily on the angular resolution and noise level. Color plates and one-dimensional scans of the maps are presented to visually illustrate the anisotropies.

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arXiv1994

CMB Maps at 0.5 Degree Resolution II: Unresolved Features

High-contrast peaks in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy can appear as unresolved sources to observers. We fit simulated CMB maps generated with a cold dark matter model to a set of unresolved features at instrumental resolution 0.5 degrees to 1.5 degrees and present the integral density per steradian n(>|T|) of unresolved features brighter than threshold temperature |T|. A typical medium-scale experiment observing 0.001 sr at 0.5 degree resolution would expect to observe one unresolved feature brighter than 85 \muK after convolution with the beam profile, with less than 5% probability to observe a source brighter than 150 \muK. Increasing the power-law index of primordial density perturbations n from 1 to 1.5 raises these temperature limits |T| by a factor of 2. The results are only weakly dependent on the assumed values of the Hubble constant and baryon density.

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arXiv1994

Cosmic Temperature Fluctuations from Two Years of COBE DMR Observations

The first two years of COBE DMR observations of the CMB anisotropy are analyzed and compared with our previously published first year results. The results are consistent, but the addition of the second year of data increases the precision and accuracy of the detected CMB temperature fluctuations. The two-year 53 GHz data are characterized by RMS temperature fluctuations of DT=44+/-7 uK at 7 degrees and DT=30.5+/-2.7 uK at 10 degrees angular resolution. The 53X90 GHz cross-correlation amplitude at zero lag is C(0)^{1/2}=36+/-5 uK (68%CL) for the unsmoothed 7 degree DMR data. A likelihood analysis of the cross correlation function, including the quadrupole anisotropy, gives a most likely quadrupole-normalized amplitude Q_{rms-PS}=12.4^{+5.2}_{-3.3} uK (68% CL) and a spectral index n=1.59^{+0.49}_{-0.55} for a power law model of initial density fluctuations, P(k)~k^n. With n fixed to 1.0 the most likely amplitude is 17.4 +/-1.5 uK (68% CL). Excluding the quadrupole anisotropy we find Q_{rms-PS}= 16.0^{+7.5}_{-5.2} uK (68% CL), n=1.21^{+0.60}_{-0.55}, and, with n fixed to 1.0 the most likely amplitude is 18.2+/-1.6 uK (68% CL). Monte Carlo simulations indicate that these derived estimates of n may be biased by ~+0.3 (with the observed low value of the quadrupole included in the analysis) and {}~+0.1 (with the quadrupole excluded). Thus the most likely bias-corrected estimate of n is between 1.1 and 1.3. Our best estimate of the dipole from the two-year DMR data is 3.363+/-0.024 mK towards Galactic coordinates (l,b)= (264.4+/-0.2 degrees, +48.1+/-0.4 degrees), and our best estimate of the RMS quadrupole amplitude in our sky is 6+/-3 uK.

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