"Three-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
observations: Implications for cosmology," by D.N. Spergel and 21
others, Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 170(2): 377-408,
June 2007.
[Authors' affiliations: 13 U.S. and Canadian institutions]
Abstract: "A simple cosmological model with only six
parameters (matter density, Omega(m)h(2), baryon density, Omega(b)h(2),
Hubble constant, H-0, amplitude of fluctuations, sigma(8), optical depth,
tau, and a slope for the scalar perturbation spectrum, n(s)) fits not only
the 3 year WMAP temperature and polarization data, but also small-scale CMB
data, light element abundances, large-scale structure observations, and the
supernova luminosity/distance relationship. Using WMAP data only, the
best-fit values for cosmological parameters for the power-law flat Lambda
cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) model are (Omega(m)h(2), Omega(b)h(2), h,
n(s), tau, sigma(s)) = (0.1277(-0.0079)(+0.0080), 0.02229 +/- 0.00073,
0.732(-0.032)(+0.031), 0.958 +/- 0.016,0.089 +/- 0.030,
0.761(-0.048)(+0.049)). The 3 year data dramatically shrink the allowed
volume in this six-dimensional parameter space. Assuming that the
primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power-law spectrum, the WMAP
data alone require dark matter and favor a spectral index that is
significantly less than the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles scale-invariant
spectrum ( n(s) = 1, r = 0). Adding additional data sets improves the
constraints on these components and the spectral slope. For power-law
models, WMAP data alone puts an improved upper limit on the
tensor-to-scalar ratio, r(0.002) < 0.65 ( 95% CL) and the combination of
WMAP and the lensing-normalized SDSS galaxy survey implies r(0.002) <
0.30 ( 95% CL). Models that suppress large-scale power through a running
spectral index or a large-scale cutoff in the power spectrum are a better
fit to the WMAP and small-scale CMB data than the power-law Lambda CDM
model; however, the improvement in the fit to the WMAP data is only
Delta(2)(chi) = 3 for 1 extra degree of freedom. Models with a
running-spectral index are consistent with a
higher amplitude of gravity waves. In a flat universe, the combination of
WMAP and the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) data yields a significant
constraint on the equation of state of the dark energy, w =
-0.967(-0.072)(+0.073). If we assume w = -1, then the deviations from the
critical density, Omega(K), are small: the combination of WMAP and the SNLS
data implies Omega(k) = -0.011 +/- 0.012. The combination of WMAP 3 year
data plus the HST Key Project constraint on H-0 implies Omega(k) = -0.014
+/- 0.017 and Omega(Lambda) = 0.716 +/- 0.055. Even if we do not include
the prior that the universe is flat, by combining WMAP, large-scale
structure, and supernova data, we can still put a strong constraint on the
dark energy equation of state, w = -1.08 +/- 0.12. For a flat universe, the
combination of WMAP and other astronomical data yield a constraint on the
sum of the neutrino masses, Sigma m(nu) < 0.66 eV (95%CL). Consistent
with the predictions of simple inflationary theories, we detect no
significant deviations from Gaussianity in the CMB maps using Minkowski
functionals, the bispectrum, trispectrum, and a new statistic designed to
detect large-scale anisotropies in the fluctuations."
This 2007 report from Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series was
cited 170 times in current journal articles
indexed by Clarivate during September-October 2008. With its latest
two-month tally, the paper continues its impressive run--now for the
seventh consecutive bimonthly period--as the most-cited physics paper
published in the last two years. Prior to the most recent two-month count,
citations to the paper have accrued as follows:
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