2004 (IPP)

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    Statistical Isotropy of the WMAP Data: A bipolar power spectrum analysis
    (2011-07-06) Hajian, Amir; Souradeep, Tarun; Neil, Cornish
    ABSTRACT The statistical expectation values of the temperature fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are assumed to be preserved under rotations of the sky. We use the bipolar power s pectrum (BiPS) proposed in Hajian & Souradeep to investigate the statistical isotropy (SI) of the CMB anisotropy maps recently measured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The method can isolate and probe specific regions of choice in multipole space using appropriate window functions. The BiPS is estimated for full sky CMB anisotropy maps based on the first year WMAP data using a range of window functions. The BiPS spectra computed for both full sky maps for all our window functions are consistent with zero, roughly within 2 σ. The null BiPS results may be interpreted as an absence of strong violation of statistical isotropy in the first-year WMAP data on angular scales larger than that corresponding to l ∼ 60. However, pending a careful direct comparison, our results do not necessarily conflict with the specific SI related anomalies reported using other statistical tests.
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    Probing the time-variation of the fine-structure constant: Results based on Si IV doublets from a UVES sample
    (2011-07-06) Chand, Hum; Petitjean, Patrick; Srianand, R.; et al.
    We report a new constraint on the variation of the fine-structure constant based on the analysis of 15 Si iv doublets selected from a ESO-UVES sample. We find ∆α/α = (+0.15 ± 0.43) × 10−5 over a redshift range of 1.59 ≤ z ≤ 2.92 which is consistent with no variation in α. This result represents a factor of three improvement on the constraint on ∆α/α based on Si iv doublets compared to the published results in the literature. The alkali doublet method used here avoids the implicit assumptions used in the many-multiplet method that chemical and ionization inhomogeneities are negligible and isotopic abundances are close to the terrestrial value.