This article is cited in 12 papers

PHYSICS OF OUR DAYS

Searching for non-Gaussianity in observational cosmic microwave background data

O. V. Verkhodanov

Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract: Methods for searching for non-Gaussianity in the WMAP data are reviewed and the associated problems related to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data analysis are discussed. Evidence for non-Gaussianity has been obtained by various methods and from a number of multipole ranges. Different approaches to searching for non-Gaussian CMB data are sensitive to different manifestations of non-Gaussianity, which sometimes are due to the primordial non-Gaussianity and sometimes to galactic foregrounds and/or systematic residuals remaining after the data analysis that are difficult to take into account.

Keywords: cosmic microwave background, non-Gaussianity, data analysis.

PACS: 95.75.-z, 98.70.Vc, 98.80.-k

Received: July 13, 2011
Revised: December 1, 2011
Accepted: December 6, 2011

DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0182.201211d.1177

 English version: Physics–Uspekhi, 2012, 55:11, 1098–1114

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