We examine the consistency of WMAP9 and Planck data. We compare sky maps, power spectra, and inferred LCDM cosmological parameters. Residual dipoles are seen in the WMAP and Planck sky map differences, but are consistent within the uncertainties and
are not large enough to explain the widely-noted differences in angular power spectra at higher l. After removing residual dipoles and galactic foregrounds, the residual difference maps exhibit a quadrupole and other large-scale systematic structure. We identify this structure as possibly originating from Plancks beam sidelobe pick-up, but note that it appears to have insignificant cosmological impact. We develop an extension of the internal linear combination technique and find features that plausibly originate in the Planck data. We examine LCDM model fits to the angular power spectra and conclude that the ~2.5% difference in the spectra at multipoles greater than l~100 are significant at the 3-5 sigma level. We revisit the analysis of WMAPs beam data and conclude that previously-derived uncertainties are robust and cannot explain the power spectrum differences. Finally, we examine the consistency of the LCDM parameters inferred from each data set taking into account the fact that both experiments observe the same sky, but cover different multipole ranges, apply different sky masks, and have different noise. While individual parameter values agree within the uncertainties, the 6 parameters taken together are discrepant at the ~6 sigma level, with chi2=56 for 6 dof (PTE = 3e-10). Of the 6 parameters, chi2 is best improved by marginalizing over Omega_c h^2, giving chi2=5.2 for 5 degrees of freedom. We find that perturbing the WMAP window function by its dominant beam error profile has little effect on Omega_c h^2, while perturbing the Planck window function by its corresponding error profile has a much greater effect on Omega_c h^2.
The determination of the Hubble constant has been a central goal in observational astrophysics for nearly 100 years. Extraordinary progress has occurred in recent years on two fronts: the cosmic distance ladder measurements at low redshift and cosmic
microwave background (CMB) measurements at high redshift. The CMB is used to predict the current expansion rate through a best-fit cosmological model. Complementary progress has been made with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements at relatively low redshifts. While BAO data do not independently determine a Hubble constant, they are important for constraints on possible solutions and checks on cosmic consistency. A precise determination of the Hubble constant is of great value, but it is more important to compare the high and low redshift measurements to test our cosmological model. Significant tension would suggest either uncertainties not accounted for in the experimental estimates, or the discovery of new physics beyond the standard model of cosmology. In this paper we examine in detail the tension between the CMB, BAO, and cosmic distance ladder data sets. We find that these measurements are consistent within reasonable statistical expectations, and we combine them to determine a best-fit Hubble constant of 69.6+/-0.7 km/s/Mpc. This value is based upon WMAP9+SPT+ACT+6dFGS+BOSS/DR11+H_0/Riess; we explore alternate data combinations in the text. The combined data constrain the Hubble constant to 1%, with no compelling evidence for new physics.
We present cosmological parameter constraints based on the final nine-year WMAP data, in conjunction with additional cosmological data sets. The WMAP data alone, and in combination, continue to be remarkably well fit by a six-parameter LCDM model. Wh
en WMAP data are combined with measurements of the high-l CMB anisotropy, the BAO scale, and the Hubble constant, the densities, Omegabh2, Omegach2, and Omega_L, are each determined to a precision of ~1.5%. The amplitude of the primordial spectrum is measured to within 3%, and there is now evidence for a tilt in the primordial spectrum at the 5sigma level, confirming the first detection of tilt based on the five-year WMAP data. At the end of the WMAP mission, the nine-year data decrease the allowable volume of the six-dimensional LCDM parameter space by a factor of 68,000 relative to pre-WMAP measurements. We investigate a number of data combinations and show that their LCDM parameter fits are consistent. New limits on deviations from the six-parameter model are presented, for example: the fractional contribution of tensor modes is limited to r<0.13 (95% CL); the spatial curvature parameter is limited to -0.0027 (+0.0039/-0.0038); the summed mass of neutrinos is <0.44 eV (95% CL); and the number of relativistic species is found to be 3.84+/-0.40 when the full data are analyzed. The joint constraint on Neff and the primordial helium abundance agrees with the prediction of standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We compare recent PLANCK measurements of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect with our seven-year measurements, and show their mutual agreement. Our analysis of the polarization pattern around temperature extrema is updated. This confirms a fundamental prediction of the standard cosmological model and provides a striking illustration of acoustic oscillations and adiabatic initial conditions in the early universe.
We present the final nine-year maps and basic results from the WMAP mission. We provide new nine-year full sky temperature maps that were processed to reduce the asymmetry of the effective beams. Temperature and polarization sky maps are examined to
separate CMB anisotropy from foreground emission, and both types of signals are analyzed in detail. The WMAP mission has resulted in a highly constrained LCDM cosmological model with precise and accurate parameters in agreement with a host of other cosmological measurements. When WMAP data are combined with finer scale CMB, baryon acoustic oscillation, and Hubble constant measurements, we find that Big Bang nucleosynthesis is well supported and there is no compelling evidence for a non-standard number of neutrino species (3.84+/-0.40). The model fit also implies that the age of the universe is 13.772+/-0.059 Gyr, and the fit Hubble constant is H0 = 69.32+/-0.80 km/s/Mpc. Inflation is also supported: the fluctuations are adiabatic, with Gaussian random phases; the detection of a deviation of the scalar spectral index from unity reported earlier by WMAP now has high statistical significance (n_s = 0.9608+/-0.0080); and the universe is close to flat/Euclidean, Omega_k = -0.0027 (+0.0039/-0.0038). Overall, the WMAP mission has resulted in a reduction of the cosmological parameter volume by a factor of 68,000 for the standard six-parameter LCDM model, based on CMB data alone. For a model including tensors, the allowed seven-parameter volume has been reduced by a factor 117,000. Other cosmological observations are in accord with the CMB predictions, and the combined data reduces the cosmological parameter volume even further. With no significant anomalies and an adequate goodness-of-fit, the inflationary flat LCDM model and its precise and accurate parameters rooted in WMAP data stands as the standard model of cosmology.
(Abridged) We present the angular power spectra derived from the 7-year maps and discuss the cosmological conclusions that can be inferred from WMAP data alone. The third acoustic peak in the TT spectrum is now well measured by WMAP. In the context o
f a flat LambdaCDM model, this improvement allows us to place tighter constraints on the matter density from WMAP data alone, and on the epoch of matter-radiation equality, The temperature-polarization (TE) spectrum is detected in the 7-year data with a significance of 20 sigma, compared to 13 sigma with the 5-year data. The low-l EE spectrum, a measure of the optical depth due to reionization, is detected at 5.5 sigma significance when averaged over l = 2-7. The BB spectrum, an important probe of gravitational waves from inflation, remains consistent with zero. The upper limit on tensor modes from polarization data alone is a factor of 2 lower with the 7-year data than it was using the 5-year data (Komatsu et al. 2010). We test the parameter recovery process for bias and find that the scalar spectral index, ns, is biased high, but only by 0.09 sigma, while the remaining parameters are biased by < 0.15 sigma. The improvement in the third peak measurement leads to tighter lower limits from WMAP on the number of relativistic degrees of freedom (e.g., neutrinos) in the early universe: Neff > 2.7 (95% CL). Also, using WMAP data alone, the primordial helium mass fraction is found to be YHe = 0.28+0.14-0.15, and with data from higher-resolution CMB experiments included, we now establish the existence of pre-stellar helium at > 3 sigma (Komatsu et al. 2010).
