Testing Statistical Isotropy With Large-Scale Structure.

[摘要] This thesis includes various observational tests of statistical isotropy using data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and the associated 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS), the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (BATSE catalogue), and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS). Results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite have provided hints that statistical isotropy may be violated on the largest scales in our universe, but the implications of such hints in cosmic microwave background data are not entirely clear, in part due to debates regarding the a posteriori nature of the statistics used to quantify the unusualness of anomalous results in CMB data. This thesis details independent tests of statistical isotropy by testing for dipoles in data from the surveys listed above. Dipole signals detected in these surveys are all consistent with the standard, statistically isotropic expectation, and we place constraints on the amplitude of any intrinsic dipole driven by novel physics in the early universe.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] Cosmology

[关键词] Astrophysics;Cosmology;Large-Scale Structure;Statistical Isotropy;Dipoles;Galaxies;Astronomy;Physics;Science;Physics