Tests for Non-Gaussian Statistics in the DMR Four-Year Sky Maps
Abstract
We search the high-latitude portion of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) 4 yr sky maps for evidence of a non-Gaussian temperature distribution in the cosmic microwave background. The genus, three-point correlation function, and two-point correlation function of temperature maxima and minima are all in excellent agreement with the hypothesis that the CMB anisotropy on angular scales of 7 deg or larger represents a random-phase Gaussian field. A likelihood comparison of the DMR sky maps to a set of random-phase non-Gaussian toy models selects the exact Gaussian model as most likely. Monte Carlo simulations show that the two-point correlation of the peaks and valleys in the maps provides the greatest discrimination among the class of models tested.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 1996
- DOI:
- 10.1086/310078
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9601062
- Bibcode:
- 1996ApJ...464L..29K
- Keywords:
-
- COSMOLOGY: COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND;
- COSMOLOGY: OBSERVATIONS;
- METHODS: STATISTICAL;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 15 pages including 4 encapsulated PostScript figures. Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal (Letters)