Testing the Cosmic Microwave Background Data for Systematic Effects

2003/11/17 by Louise M. Griffiths, Charles H. Lineweaver
Physics and Astronomy · #Anisotropy #Background radiation #Calibration #Cosmic background radiation #Cosmic microwave background #Cosmic ray #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark matter #Electrical and Electromagnetic Research #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Systematic error #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/381493

published as Astrophys.J. 603 (2004) 371-382 · 33 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, ApJ accepted, extends the analysis of astro-ph/0301490 to include the WMAP data, uses aastex.cls

arxiv created 2003/11/17 · openalex publication_date 2004/03/09 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Under the assumption that the concordance Λ cold dark matter (CDM) model is the correct model, we test the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy data for systematic effects by examining the bandpass temperature residuals with respect to this model. Residuals are analyzed as a function of angular scale l , Galactic latitude, frequency, calibration source, instrument type, and several other variables that may be associated with potential systematic effects. Our main result is that we find no significant systematic errors associated with these variables. However, we do find marginal evidence for a trend associated with Galactic latitude indicative of Galactic contamination.

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