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Cited by 6,778Cosmology and Gravitation TheoriesDark Matter and Cosmic PhenomenaGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena

Three‐Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe ( WMAP ) Observations: Implications for Cosmology

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Spergel, D. N., Bean, R., Dore, O., Nolta, M. R., Bennett, C. L., Dunkley, J., Hinshaw, G., Jarosik, N. +14 more·2007·The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
DOI 10.1086/513700
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Abstract

A simple cosmological model with only six parameters (matter density, Ω m h 2 , baryon density, Ω b h 2 , Hubble constant, H 0 , amplitude of fluctuations, σ 8 , optical depth, τ, and a slope for the scalar perturbation spectrum, n s ) fits not only the 3 year WMAP temperature and polarization data, but also small-scale CMB data, light element abundances, large-scale structure observations, and the supernova luminosity/distance relationship. Using WMAP data only, the best-fit values for cosmological parameters for the power-law flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model are (Ω m h 2 ,Ω b h 2 , h , n s ,τ,σ 8 ) = (0.1277 ,0.02229 ± 0.00073,0.732 ,0.958 ± 0.016,0.089 ± 0.030,0.761 ). The 3 year data dramatically shrink the allowed volume in this six-dimensional parameter space. Assuming that the primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power-law spectrum, the WMAP data alone require dark matter and favor a spectral index that is significantly less than the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles scale-invariant spectrum ( n s = 1, r = 0). Adding additional data sets improves the constraints on these components and the spectral slope. For power-law models, WMAP data alone puts an improved upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r 0.002 < 0.65 (95% CL) and the combination of WMAP and the lensing-normalized SDSS galaxy survey implies r 0.002 < 0.30 (95% CL). Models that suppress large-scale power through a running spectral index or a large-scale cutoff in the power spectrum are a better fit to the WMAP and small-scale CMB data than the power-law ΛCDM model; however, the improvement in the fit to the WMAP data is only Δχ 2 = 3 for 1 extra degree of freedom. Models with a running-spectral index are consistent with a higher amplitude of gravity waves. In a flat universe, the combination of WMAP and the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) data yields a significant constraint on the equation of state of the dark energy, w = -0.967 . If we assume w = -1, then the deviations from the critical density, Ω K , are small: the combination of WMAP and the SNLS data implies Ω k = -0.011 ± 0.012. The combination of WMAP 3 year data plus the HST Key Project constraint on H 0 implies Ω k = -0.014 ± 0.017 and Ω Λ = 0.716 ± 0.055. Even if we do not include the prior that the universe is flat, by combining WMAP , large-scale structure, and supernova data, we can still put a strong constraint on the dark energy equation of state, w = -1.08 ± 0.12. For a flat universe, the combination of WMAP and other astronomical data yield a constraint on the sum of the neutrino masses, m ν < 0.66 eV (95%CL). Consistent with the predictions of simple inflationary theories, we detect no significant deviations from Gaussianity in the CMB maps using Minkowski functionals, the bispectrum, trispectrum, and a new statistic designed to detect large-scale anisotropies in the fluctuations.

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Crossref · 10.1086/513700

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  • The primordial universe was, to high precision, a spatial Gaussian random field.

    “The primordial universe was, to high precision, a spatial Gaussian random field, which has been shown observationally by numerous cosmic microwave background experiments such as COBE (Bennett et al. 2003), WMAP (Spergel et al. 2007), and more recently Planck (Abergel et al. 2011).”

    From Topological pattern recognition for point cloud data (2014) · cites this paper as Spergel et al. 2007

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Authors
Spergel, D. N., Bean, R., Dore, O., Nolta, M. R., Bennett, C. L., Dunkley, J., Hinshaw, G., Jarosik, N., Komatsu, E., Page, L., Peiris, H. V., Verde, L., Halpern, M., Hill, R. S., Kogut, A., Limon, M., Meyer, S. S., Odegard, N., Tucker, G. S., Weiland, J. L., Wollack, E., & Wright, E. L.
Affiliations
  • Princeton University (US)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • University of Chicago (US)
  • Brown University (US)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
ORCID
Venue
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Published
2007-06
Volume
170
Issue
2
Pages
377-408
ISSN
  • 0067-0049 (ISSN-L)
  • 1538-4365
DOI
10.1086/513700
OpenAlex
W2154748230
Cited by
6,778
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 81 · 2025: 143 · 2024: 149 · 2023: 142 · 2022: 122 · 2021: 155 · 2020: 142 · 2019: 146 · 2018: 188 · 2017: 174 · 2016: 220 · 2015: 207 · 2014: 247 · 2013: 369 · 2012: 391
FWCI
648.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (acceptedVersion)
  • CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAS 526555, 526555)
  • Space Telescope Science Institute (NAS5- 26555, 5-26555, 26555)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Keywords
WMAP, cosmic microwave background, cosmological parameters, primordial power spectrum, scalar spectral index, tensor-to-scalar ratio, dark matter, dark energy equation of state, running of the spectral index, optical depth, Hubble constant, matter density, baryon density

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