Jaiseung Kim

ANOMALOUS PARITY ASYMMETRY OF THE WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE POWER SPECTRUM DATA AT LOW MULTIPOLES

We have investigated non-Gaussianity of our early universe by comparing the parity asymmetry of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) power spectrum with simulations. We find that odd-parity preference of the WMAP data (2 ≤ l ≤ 18) is anomalous at 4-in-1000 level. We find it likely that low quadrupole power is part of this parity asymmetry rather than an isolated anomaly. Further investigation is required to find out whether the origin of this anomaly is a cosmological or a systematic effect. The data from Planck Surveyor, which has systematics distinct from WMAP, will help us to resolve the origin of the anomalous odd-parity preference.

Anomalous parity asymmetry of WMAP 7-year power spectrum data at low multipoles: Is it cosmological or systematics?

It is natural to assume a parity-neutral Universe and accordingly no particular parity preference in the cosmic microwave background sky. However, our investigation based on the WMAP 7-year power spectrum shows there exists a large-scale odd-parity preference with high statistical significance. We also find that the odd-parity preference in WMAP7 data is slightly higher than earlier releases. We have investigated possible origins, and ruled out various noncosmological origins. We also find that the primordial origin requires |Re[{Phi}(k)]|<<|Im[{Phi}(k)]| for k < or approx. 22/{eta}{sub 0}, where {eta}{sub 0} is the present conformal time. In other words, it requires translational invariance in the primordial Universe to be violated on scales larger than 4 Gpc. The Planck surveyor, which possesses wide frequency coverage and systematics distinct from the WMAP, may allow us to resolve the mystery of the anomalous odd-parity preference. Furthermore, polarization maps of large-sky coverage will reduce degeneracy in cosmological origins.

The Gauss-Legendre Sky Pixelization for the CMB polarization (GLESP-pol). Errors due to pixelization of the CMB sky

We present the development of the method for numerical analysis of polarization in the Gauss–Legendre sky pixelization (GLESP) scheme for CMB maps. This incorporation of the polarization transforms in the pixelization scheme GLESP completes the creation of our new method for numerical analysis of CMB maps. A comparison of GLESP and HEALPix calculations is done.

Understanding the WMAP Cold Spot mystery

The Cold Spot (CS) at galactic coordinates (b = −57°, l = 209°) was discovered in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)data as a cosmic background anomaly. In order to assess the cosmological significance of the Spot, we examine its properties using the cluster analysis of the local extrema in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) signal. We also check the hypothesis that the CMB signal has a non-Gaussian tail, localized in the low-multipole components. We constructed a linear filter, dividing the signal into two parts: non-Gaussian and Gaussian. Using the filter scale as a variable, we can maximize the skewness and kurtosis of the smoothed signal and minimize these statistics. We discovered that the shape of the CS is formed primarily by the components of the CMB signal represented by the multipoles between 10 ≤ ℓ ≤ 20, with a corresponding angular scale of about 5°–10°. This signal leads to the modulation of the CMB on the whole sky, clearly seen at |b| > 30° in both the ILC andWCM maps, rather than in a single localized feature. After subtraction of this modulation, the remaining part of the CMB signal appears to be consistent with statistical homogeneity and Gaussianity. We therefore infer that the mystery of the WMAP Cold Spot reflects directly the peculiarities of low multipoles of the CMB signal, rather than a single local (isolated) defect or the manifestations of a globally anisotropic cosmology.

Can residuals of the solar system foreground explain low multipole anomalies of the CMB

The low multipole anomalies of the Cosmic Microwave Background has received much attention during the last few years. It is still not ascertained whether these anomalies are indeed primordial or the result of systematics or foregrounds. An example of a foreground, which could generate some non-Gaussian and statistically anisotropic features at low multipole range, is the very symmetric Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system. In this paper, expanding upon the methods presented in [1], we investigate the contributions from the Kuiper Belt objects (KBO) to the WMAP ILC 7 map, whereby we can minimize the contrast in power between even and odd multipoles in the CMB, discussed in [2,3]. We submit our KBO de-correlated CMB signal to several tests, to analyze its validity, and find that incorporation of the KBO emission can decrease the quadrupole-octupole alignment and parity asymmetry problems, provided that the KBO signals has a non-cosmological dipole modulation, associated with the statistical anisotropy of the ILC 7 map. Additionally, we show that the amplitude of the dipole modulation, within a 2σ interval, is in agreement with the corresponding amplitudes, discussed in [4].

Lack of Angular Correlation and Odd-parity Preference in Cosmic Microwave Background Data

We have investigated the angular correlation in the recent cosmic microwave background data. In addition to the known large-angle correlation anomaly, we find the lack of correlation at small angles with high statistical significance. We have investigated various non-cosmological contamination as well as the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) teams simulated data. However, we have not found a definite cause. In the angular power spectrum of WMAP data, there exists anomalous odd-parity preference at low multipoles. Noting the equivalence between the power spectrum and the correlation, we have investigated the association between the lack of large-angle correlation and the odd-parity preference. From our investigation, we find that the odd-parity preference at low multipoles is, in fact, a phenomenological origin of the lack of large-angle correlation. Further investigation is required to find out whether the origin of the anomaly is cosmological or due to unaccounted systematics. The data from the Planck surveyor, which has systematics distinct from WMAP, will greatly help us to resolve its origin.

CMB map derived from the WMAP data through harmonic internal linear combination

We are presenting an internal linear combination CMB map, in which the foreground is reduced through harmonic variance minimization. We have derived our method by converting a general form of pixel-space approach into spherical harmonic space, maintaining full correspondence. By working in spherical harmonic space, spatial variability of linear weights is incorporated in a self-contained manner and our linear weights are continuous functions of position over the entire sky. The full correspondence to pixel-space approach enables straightforward physical interpretation on our approach. In variance minimization of a linear combination map, the existence of a cross term between residual foregrounds and CMB makes the linear combination of minimum variance differ from that of minimum foreground. We have developed an iterative foreground reduction method, where perturbative correction is made for the cross term. Our CMB map derived from the WMAP data is in better agreement with the WMAP best-fit {lambda}CDM model than the WMAP teams internal linear combination map. We find that our methods capacity to clean foreground is limited by the availability of enough spherical harmonic coefficients of good signal-to-noise ratio.

Is the Cosmic Microwave Background Asymmetry due to the Kinematic Dipole

Parity violation found in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is a crucial clue for the non-standard cosmological model or the possible contamination of various foreground residuals and/or calibration of the CMB data sets. In this paper, we study the directional properties of the CMB parity asymmetry by excluding the

CMB polarization map derived from the WMAP 5 year data through the harmonic internal linear combination method

m=0

HARMONIC IN-PAINTING OF COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND SKY BY CONSTRAINED GAUSSIAN REALIZATION

modes in the definition of parity parameters. We find that the preferred directions of the parity parameters coincide with the CMB kinematic dipole, which implies that the CMB parity asymmetry may be connected with the possible contamination of the residual dipole component. We also find that such tendency is not only localized at