On the (higher multipoles) variance asymmetry in the cosmic microwave background

TL;DR

This paper investigates anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background by analyzing variance asymmetries across different multipoles and scales, revealing potential anomalies beyond the dipole.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of higher multipole variance asymmetries in the CMB, highlighting significant features beyond the well-known dipole anisotropy.

Findings

Confirmed significance of the dipole anisotropy.

Discovered comparable significance in some higher multipoles.

Indicated possible anomalous patch in the CMB sky.

Abstract

We have studied the cosmic microwave background (CMB) map looking for features beyond cosmological isotropy. We began by tiling the CMB variance map (which are produced by different smoothing scales) with stripes of different sizes along the most prominent dipole direction. We were able to confirm previous findings regarding the significance of the dipole. Furthermore, we discovered that some of the higher multipoles exhibit significance comparable to the dipole which naturally depends on the smoothing scales. At the end, we discussed this result having an eye on look-elsewhere-effect. We believe our results may indicate an anomalous patch in the CMB sky that warrants further investigation.