SEVEN-YEAR WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE ( WMAP ) OBSERVATIONS: ARE THERE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND ANOMALIES?

A simple six-parameter Lambda CDM model provides a successful fit to WMAP data. This holds both when the WMAP data are analyzed alone or in combination with other cosmological data. Even so, it is appropriate to examine the data carefully to search for hints of deviations from the now standard model of cosmology, which includes inflation, dark energy, dark matter, baryons, and neutrinos. The cosmological community has subjected the WMAP data to extensive and varied analyses. While there is widespread agreement as to the overall success of the six-parameter Lambda CDM model, various "anomalies" have been reported relative to that model. In this paper we examine potential anomalies and present analyses and…

• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• PU
  Princeton University
• GS
  Goddard Space Flight Center