Speaker
Prof.
glenn starkman
(Case Western Reserve University)
Description
Several unexpected features have been observed in the temperature of the microwave sky at large angular scales, from COBE to WMAP and Planck. These include lack of both variance and correlation on the largest angular scales; alignment of the lowest multipole moments with one another and with the motion and geometry of the Solar System; lack of variance in the northern hemisphere, or a hemispherical power asymmetry or dipolar power modulation; a preference for odd parity modes; and an unexpectedly large cold spot in the Southern hemisphere. The individual p-values of the significance of several of these features are in the per mille to per cent level, compared to the expectations of the best-fit inflationary ΛCDM model. There are no good physical models for these anomalies. Rather than focus on a debate about the validity of a posteori statistics, or the relative merits of one statistical measure or another, we will discuss how we can make progress by: (a) considering how the existence of measured anomaly alters the predictions of ΛCDM for other observables; (b) making predictions from reasonable phenomenological expectations for the physics contents of measured anomalies.
| Overview or Regular Talk? | Overview: 75 min. |
|---|
Primary author
Prof.
glenn starkman
(Case Western Reserve University)
