Estimate of the cosmological bispectrum from the MAXIMA-1 cosmic microwave background map.
We use the measurement of the cosmic microwave background taken during the MAXIMA-1 flight to estimate the bispectrum of cosmological perturbations. We propose an estimator for the bispectrum that is appropriate in the flat sky approximation, apply it to the MAXIMA-1 data, and evaluate errors using bootstrap methods. We compare the estimated value with what would be expected if the sky signal were Gaussian and find that it is indeed consistent, with a chi(2) per degree of freedom of approximately unity. This measurement places constraints on models of inflation.
Santos
M G
MG
Astrophysics & Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom.
Balbi
A
A
Borrill
J
J
Ferreira
P G
PG
Hanany
S
S
Jaffe
A H
AH
Lee
A T
AT
Magueijo
J
J
Rabii
B
B
Richards
P L
PL
Smoot
G F
GF
Stompor
R
R
Winant
C D
CD
Wu
J H P
JH