Cosmic microwave background anisotropies: The power spectrum and beyond

Abstract

Most of the cosmological information extracted from the CMB has been obtained through the power spectrum; however, there is much more to be learnt from the statistical distribution of the temperature random field. We review some recent developments in the study of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies and present a description of the novel tools developed to analyse the properties of the CMB anisotropies beyond the power spectrum. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.