title: Position-space description of the cosmic microwave background and its temperature correlation function.
abstract: We suggest that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature correlation function C(theta) as a function of angle provides a direct connection between experimental data and the fundamental cosmological quantities. The evolution of inhomogeneities in the prerecombination universe is studied using Green's functions in position space. We find that a primordial adiabatic point perturbation propagates as a sharp-edged spherical acoustic wave. Density singularities at its wave fronts create a feature in the CMB correlation function distinguished by a dip at theta approximately 1.2 degrees. Characteristics of the feature are sensitive to the values of cosmological parameters, in particular to the total and the baryon densities.
authors.affiliation: Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bashinsky
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertschinger