Abstract
We describe different methods for estimating the bispectrum of cosmic microwave background data. In particular, we construct a minimum-variance estimator for the flat-sky limit and compare results with previously studied frequentist methods. Application to the MAXIMA data set shows consistency with primordial Gaussianity. Weak quadratic non-Gaussianity is characterized by a tunable parameter fNL, corresponding to non-Gaussianity at a level of ∼10-5 fNL (the ratio of non-Gaussian to Gaussian terms), and we find limits of fNL = 1500 ± 950 for the minimum-variance estimator and fNL = 2700 ± 1650 for the usual frequentist estimator. These are the tightest limits on primordial non-Gaussianity, which include the full effects of the radiation transfer function.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 623-643 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Volume | 341 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 11 2003 |
Keywords
- Cosmic microwave background
- Early universe
- Methods: Data analysis
- Methods: Statistical