A weakly random Universe?

TL;DR

This paper applies Kolmogorov's method to analyze CMB data, revealing that approximately 20% of the cosmic microwave background signal is random, indicating a weakly random universe.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of Kolmogorov's randomness measure to CMB data, quantifying the degree of randomness in the cosmic microwave background.

Findings

Approximately 20% of the CMB signal is random.

The universe's CMB is characterized as weakly random.

A new method for analyzing CMB randomness is demonstrated.

Abstract

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is characterized by well-established scales, the 2.7 K temperature of the Planckian spectrum and the $10^{-5}$ amplitude of the temperature anisotropy. These features were instrumental in indicating the hot and equilibrium phases of the early history of the Universe and its large scale isotropy, respectively. We now reveal one more intrinsic scale in CMB properties. We introduce a method developed originally by Kolmogorov, that quantifies a degree of randomness (chaos) in a set of numbers, such as measurements of the CMB temperature in some region. Considering CMB as a composition of random and regular signals, we solve the inverse problem of recovering of their mutual fractions from the temperature sky maps. Deriving the empirical Kolmogorov's function in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe's maps, we obtain the fraction of the random signal to be about 20 per cent, i.e. the cosmological sky is a weakly random one. The paper is dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Arnold (1937-2010).