Isotropy in the two-point angular correlation function of the cosmic microwave background

Abstract

We study the directional dependence of the angular two-point correlation function in maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We propose two new statistics: one which measures the correlation of each point in the sky with a ring of points separated an angle θ away, and a second one that measures the missing angular correlation above 60deg as a function of direction. Using these statistics, we find that most of the low power in cut-sky maps measured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe experiment comes from unusually low contributions from the directions of the lobes of the quadrupole and the octupole. These findings may aid a future explanation of why the CMB exhibits low power at large angular scales. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..