Multipole vectors and cosmic background radiation anomalies

• Grant number: 08/09463-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2009
• End date: June 30, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Rogério Rosenfeld
• Grantee: Thiago dos Santos Pereira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The so-called era of Precision Cosmology plays an ambiguous role in recent research. In one hand we have the latest data from the Cosmic Microwave Background which confirms with exquisite accuracy the standard cosmological model. On the other hand the same set of data indicates the existence of anomalies which are in clearly contradiction with the standard view of a homogeneous, isotropic and Gaussian universe. In this context the well known Maxwell's multipole vectors play an important role as a statistical tool which can unveil the origin of such anomalies. In this research project we propose a generalization of these vectors for functions which are intrinsically anisotropic and their further application to concrete cosmological models. (AU)