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We propose a Bayesian approach to joint source separation and restoration for astrophysical diffuse sources. We constitute a prior statistical model for the source images by using their gradient maps. We assume a t-distribution for the gradient maps in different directions, because it is able to fit both smooth and sparse data. A Monte Carlo technique, called Langevin sampler, is used to estimate the source images and all the model parameters are estimated by using deterministic techniques.
The extraction of foreground and CMB maps from multi-frequency observations relies mostly on the different frequency behavior of the different components. Existing Bayesian methods additionally make use of a Gaussian prior for the CMB whose correlation structure is described by an unknown angular power spectrum. We argue for the natural extension of this by using non-trivial priors also for the foreground components. Focusing on diffuse Galactic foregrounds, we propose a log-normal model including unknown spatial correlations within each component and cross-correlations between the different foreground components. We present case studies at low resolution that demonstrate the superior performance of this model when compared to an analysis with flat priors for all components.
We describe and implement an exact, flexible, and computationally efficient algorithm for joint component separation and CMB power spectrum estimation, building on a Gibbs sampling framework. Two essential new features are 1) conditional sampling of foreground spectral parameters, and 2) joint sampling of all amplitude-type degrees of freedom (e.g., CMB, foreground pixel amplitudes, and global template amplitudes) given spectral parameters. Given a parametric model of the foreground signals, we estimate efficiently and accurately the exact joint foreground-CMB posterior distribution, and therefore all marginal distributions such as the CMB power spectrum or foreground spectral index posteriors. The main limitation of the current implementation is the requirement of identical beam responses at all frequencies, which restricts the analysis to the lowest resolution of a given experiment. We outline a future generalization to multi-resolution observations. To verify the method, we analyse simple models and compare the results to analytical predictions. We then analyze a realistic simulation with properties similar to the 3-yr WMAP data, downgraded to a common resolution of 3 degree FWHM. The results from the actual 3-yr WMAP temperature analysis are presented in a companion Letter.
We present a novel application of partial convolutional neural networks (PCNN) that can inpaint masked images of the cosmic microwave background. The network can reconstruct both the maps and the power spectra to a few percent for circular and irregularly shaped masks covering up to ~10% of the image area. By performing a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test we show that the reconstructed maps and power spectra are indistinguishable from the input maps and power spectra at the 99.9% level. Moreover, we show that PCNNs can inpaint maps with regular and irregular masks to the same accuracy. This should be particularly beneficial to inpaint irregular masks for the CMB that come from astrophysical sources such as galactic foregrounds. The proof of concept application shown in this paper shows that PCNNs can be an important tool in data analysis pipelines in cosmology.
A well-tested and validated Gibbs sampling code, that performs component separation and CMB power spectrum estimation, was applied to the {it WMAP} 5-yr data. Using a simple model consisting of CMB, noise, monopoles and dipoles, a ``per pixel low-frequency power-law (fitting for both amplitude and spectral index), and a thermal dust template with fixed spectral index, we found that the low-$ell$ ($ell < 50$) CMB power spectrum is in good agreement with the published {it WMAP}5 results. Residual monopoles and dipoles were found to be small ($lesssim 3 mu$K) or negligible in the 5-yr data. We comprehensively tested the assumptions that were made about the foregrounds (e.g. dust spectral index, power-law spectral index prior, templates), and found that the CMB power spectrum was insensitive to these choices. We confirm the asymmetry of power between the north and south ecliptic hemispheres, which appears to be robust against foreground modeling. The map of low frequency spectral indices indicates a steeper spectrum on average ($beta=-2.97pm0.21$) relative to those found at low ($sim$GHz) frequencies.
Cosmic microwave background measurements show an agreement with the concordance cosmology model except for a few notable anomalies: Power Suppression, the lack of large scale power in the temperature data compared to what is expected in the concordance model, and Cosmic Hemispherical Asymmetry, a dipolar breakdown of statistical isotropy. An expansion of the CMB covariance in Bipolar Spherical Harmonics naturally parametrizes both these large-scale anomalies, allowing us to perform an exhaustive, fully Bayesian joint analysis of the power spectrum and violations of statistical isotropy up to the dipole level. Our analysis sheds light on the scale dependence of the Cosmic Hemispherical Asymmetry. Assuming a scale-dependent dipole modulation model with a two-parameter power law form, we explore the posterior pdf of amplitude $A(l = 16)$ and the power law index $alpha$ and find the maximum a posteriori values $A_*(l = 16) = 0.064 pm 0.022$ and $alpha_* = -0.92 pm 0.22$. The maximum a posteriori direction associated with the Cosmic Hemispherical Asymmetry is $(l,b) = (247.8^o, -19.6^o)$ in Galactic coordinates, consistent with previous analyses. We evaluate the Bayes factor $B_{SI-DM}$ to compare the Cosmic Hemispherical Asymmetry model with the isotropic model. The data prefer but do not substantially favor the anisotropic model ($B_{SI-DM}=0.4$). We consider several priors and find that this evidence ratio is robust to prior choice. The large-scale power suppression does not soften when jointly inferring both the isotropic power spectrum and the parameters of the asymmetric model, indicating no evidence that these anomalies are coupled.