Flat Spots: Topological Signatures of an Open Universe in Cosmic Background Explorer Sky Maps

Janna J. Levin; John D. Barrow; Emory F. Bunn; Joseph Silk

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.974

Flat Spots: Topological Signatures of an Open Universe in Cosmic Background Explorer Sky Maps

Janna J. Levin, John D. Barrow, Emory F. Bunn, and Joseph Silk

Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 974 – Published 11 August 1997

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of light rays in an open universe with a partly periodic horn topology. The geodesics can be solved exactly and the periodic topology creates characteristic new effects in temperature maps of the microwave background. Large flat regions appear in Cosmic Background Explorer sky maps even when multiple images of astronomical sources are unobservable.

Received 17 January 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.974

Authors & Affiliations

Janna J. Levin¹, John D. Barrow^1,2, Emory F. Bunn^1,3, and Joseph Silk¹

¹Center for Particle Astrophysics, University of California—Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-7304
²Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom
³Physics and Astronomy Department, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine 04240