6,581 research outputs found
Do wavelets really detect non-Gaussianity in the 4-year COBE data?
We investigate the detection of non-Gaussianity in the 4-year COBE data
reported by Pando, Valls-Gabaud & Fang (1998), using a technique based on the
discrete wavelet transform. Their analysis was performed on the two DMR faces
centred on the North and South Galactic poles respectively, using the
Daubechies 4 wavelet basis. We show that these results depend critically on the
orientation of the data, and so should be treated with caution. For two
distinct orientations of the data, we calculate unbiased estimates of the
skewness, kurtosis and scale-scale correlation of the corresponding wavelet
coefficients in all of the available scale domains of the transform. We obtain
several detections of non-Gaussianity in the DMR-DSMB map at greater than the
99 per cent confidence level, but most of these occur on pixel-pixel scales and
are therefore not cosmological in origin. Indeed, after removing all multipoles
beyond from the COBE maps, only one robust detection remains.
Moreover, using Monte-Carlo simulations, we find that the probability of
obtaining such a detection by chance is 0.59. We repeat the analysis for the
53+90 GHz coadded COBE map. In this case, after removing
multipoles, two non-Gaussian detections at the 99 per cent level remain.
Nevertheless, again using Monte-Carlo simulations, we find that the probability
of obtaining two such detections by chance is 0.28. Thus, we conclude the
wavelet technique does {\em not} yield strong evidence for non-Gaussianity of
cosmological origin in the 4-year COBE data.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Revised version including discussion of
orientation sensitivity of the wavelet decomposition. MNRAS submitte
Separation of foregrounds from cosmic microwave background observations with the MAP satellite
Simulated observations of a 10\dg \times 10\dg field by the Microwave
Anisotropy Probe (MAP) are analysed in order to separate cosmic microwave
background (CMB) emission from foreground contaminants and instrumental noise
and thereby determine how accurately the CMB emission can be recovered. The
simulations include emission from the CMB, the kinetic and thermal
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects from galaxy clusters, as well as Galactic dust,
free-free and synchrotron. We find that, even in the presence of these
contaminating foregrounds, the CMB map is reconstructed with an rms accuracy of
about 20 K per 12.6 arcmin pixel, which represents a substantial
improvement as compared to the individual temperature sensitivities of the raw
data channels. We also find, for the single 10\dg \times 10\dg field, that
the CMB power spectrum is accurately recovered for \ell \la 600.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS submitte
Testing the mutual consistency of different supernovae surveys
It is now common practice to constrain cosmological parameters using
supernovae (SNe) catalogues constructed from several different surveys. Before
performing such a joint analysis, however, one should check that parameter
constraints derived from the individual SNe surveys that make up the catalogue
are mutually consistent. We describe a statistically-robust mutual consistency
test, which we calibrate using simulations, and apply it to each pairwise
combination of the surveys making up, respectively, the UNION2 catalogue and
the very recent JLA compilation by Betoule et al. We find no inconsistencies in
the latter case, but conclusive evidence for inconsistency between some survey
pairs in the UNION2 catalogue.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRA
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