1996/02/29 by K. Ganga, Ken Ganga, Bharat Ratra +3 · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/304296
published as Astrophys.J.484:7-30,1997 · Substantially shortened and rewritten. Accepted by ApJ. PostScript. 49 pages of text + tables. 16 pages of figures
arxiv created 1997/02/11 · openalex publication_date 1997/07/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We develop methods to account for experimental and observational uncertainties in likelihood analyses of data from cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy experiments and apply them to an analysis of the UCSB South Pole 1994 (SP94) experiment. Observationally motivated open and spatially flat Λ, cold dark matter cosmogonies are considered. Among the models we consider, the full SP94 data set is most consistent with Ω 0 ~ 0.1-0.2 open models and less so with old ( t 0 ≳ 15-16 Gyr), high baryon density (Ω B ≳ 0.0175 h -2 ), low density (Ω 0 ~ 0.2-0.4), flat-Λ models. The SP94 data do not rule out any of the models we consider at the 2 σ level. The SP94 experiment is most sensitive to anisotropies on a somewhat larger, model-dependent, angular scale than the scale at which the window function peaks. For establishing the significance of a detection of CMB anisotropy we derive limits using the highest posterior density (HPD) prescription, since it yields smaller lower limits. Since HPD limits lead to tighter constraints on the CMB amplitude, they also provide for greater discrimination between models. Model normalizations deduced from the SP94 data subsets are mostly consistent with those deduced from the 2 yr COBE -DMR data, although the Ka-band data prefer a normalization ~1 σ lower than do the Q-band data, the Q and Ka + Q data favor a slightly higher normalization for the Ω 0 = 0.1 open model than does the DMR, and the Ka and Ka + Q data prefer a somewhat lower normalization for the older, higher Ω B , low-density Λ models than does the DMR.