1,367 research outputs found
Cosmological Parameter Extraction from the First Season of Observations with DASI
The Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (\dasi) has measured the power
spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy over the range of
spherical harmonic multipoles 100<l<900. We compare this data, in combination
with the COBE-DMR results, to a seven dimensional grid of adiabatic CDM models.
Adopting the priors h>0.45 and 0.0<=tau_c<=0.4, we find that the total density
of the Universe Omega_tot=1.04+/-0.06, and the spectral index of the initial
scalar fluctuations n_s=1.01+0.08-0.06, in accordance with the predictions of
inflationary theory. In addition we find that the physical density of baryons
Omega_b.h^2=0.022+0.004-0.003, and the physical density of cold dark matter
Omega_cdm.h^2=0.14+/-0.04. This value of Omega_b.h^2 is consistent with that
derived from measurements of the primordial abundance ratios of the light
elements combined with big bang nucleosynthesis theory. Using the result of the
HST Key Project h=0.72+/-0.08 we find that Omega_t=1.00+/-0.04, the matter
density Omega_m=0.40+/-0.15, and the vacuum energy density
Omega_lambda=0.60+/-0.15. (All 68% confidence limits.)Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, minor changes in response to referee comment
Archeops: an instrument for present and future cosmology
Archeops is a balloon-borne instrument dedicated to measure the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. It has, in the millimetre
domain (from 143 to 545 GHz), a high angular resolution (about 10 arcminutes)
in order to constrain high l multipoles, as well as a large sky coverage
fraction (30%) in order to minimize the cosmic variance. It has linked, before
WMAP, Cobe large angular scales to the first acoustic peak region. From its
results, inflation motivated cosmologies are reinforced with a flat Universe
(Omega_tot=1 within 3%). The dark energy density and the baryonic density are
in very good agreement with other independent estimations based on supernovae
measurements and big bang nucleosynthesis. Important results on galactic dust
emission polarization and their implications for Planck are also addressed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Multiwavelength
Cosmology Conference, June 2003, Mykonos Island, Greec
ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2010 Preliminary Qualitative Determination
A preliminary qualitative analysis of all addenda to American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1-2007 (Standard 90.1-2007 or 2007 edition) that were included in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2010 (Standard 90.1-2010 or 2010 edition) was conducted. All 109 addenda processed by ASHRAE in the creation of Standard 90.1-2010 from Standard 90.1-2007 were evaluated by DOE for their impact on energy efficiency. DOE preliminarily determined whether that addenda would have a positive, neutral, or negative impact on overall building efficiency
DASI First Results: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Angular Power Spectrum
We present measurements of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) from the first season of observations with the Degree Angular Scale
Interferometer (DASI). The instrument was deployed at the South Pole in the
austral summer 1999--2000, and made observations throughout the following
austral winter. We have measured the angular power spectrum of the CMB in the
range 100<l<900 with high signal-to-noise. In this paper we review the
formalism used in the analysis, in particular the use of constraint matrices to
project out contaminants such as ground and point source signals, and to test
for correlations with diffuse foreground templates. We find no evidence of
foregrounds other than point sources in the data, and find a maximum likelihood
temperature spectral index beta = -0.1 +/- 0.2 (1 sigma), consistent with CMB.
We detect a first peak in the power spectrum at l approx 200, in agreement with
previous experiments. In addition, we detect a peak in the power spectrum at l
approx 550 and power of similar magnitude at l approx 800 which are consistent
with the second and third harmonic peaks predicted by adiabatic inflationary
cosmological models.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, minor changes in response to referee comment
The performance of spherical wavelets to detect non-Gaussianity in the CMB sky
We investigate the performance of spherical wavelets in discriminating
between standard inflationary models (Gaussian) and non-Gaussian models. For
the later we consider small perturbations of the Gaussian model in which an
artificially specified skewness or kurtosis is introduced through the Edgeworth
expansion. By combining all the information present in all the wavelet scales
with the Fisher discriminant, we find that the spherical Mexican Hat wavelets
are clearly superior to the spherical Haar wavelets. The former can detect
levels of the skewness and kurtosis of ~1% for 33' resolution, an order of
magnitude smaller than the later. Also, as expected, both wavelets are better
for discriminating between the models than the direct consideration of moments
of the temperature maps. The introduction of instrumental white noise in the
maps, S/N=1, does not change the main results of this paper.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRAS with minor change
Late time cosmic acceleration from vacuum Brans-Dicke theory in 5D
We show that the scalar-vacuum Brans-Dicke equations in 5D are equivalent to
Brans-Dicke theory in 4D with a self interacting potential and an effective
matter field. The cosmological implication, in the context of FRW models, is
that the observed accelerated expansion of the universe comes naturally from
the condition that the scalar field is not a ghost, i.e., . We
find an effective matter-dominated 4D universe which shows accelerated
expansion if . We study the question of whether
accelerated expansion can be made compatible with large values of ,
within the framework of a 5D scalar-vacuum Brans-Dicke theory with variable,
instead of constant, parameter . In this framework, and based on a
general class of solutions of the field equations, we demonstrate that
accelerated expansion is incompatible with large values of .Comment: In V2 the summary section is expanded. To be published in Classical
and Quantum Gravity
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