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Main Authors: Bodnia, Eve, Isenbaev, Vlad, Colburn, Kellan, Swearngin, Joe, Bouwmeester, Dirk
Format: Preprint
Published: 2022
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.06021
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author Bodnia, Eve
Isenbaev, Vlad
Colburn, Kellan
Swearngin, Joe
Bouwmeester, Dirk
author_facet Bodnia, Eve
Isenbaev, Vlad
Colburn, Kellan
Swearngin, Joe
Bouwmeester, Dirk
contents Circles of low-variance and Hawking points in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting from black hole mergers and black hole evaporation, respectively, in a previous cycle of the universe, have been predicted as possible evidence for the Conformal Cyclic Cosmology model (CCC) introduced by R. Penrose. We present a high-resolution search for such low-variance circles in the Planck and WMAP CMB data, and introduce HawkingNet, our machine learning open-source software based on a ResNet18 algorithm, to search for Hawking points in the CMB. We find that spots consisting of a few unusually bright (high-temperature) or dark (low-temperature) pixels, erroneously lead to regions with many low-variance circles, and consequently sets of near-concentric low-variance circles, when applying the search criteria used in previous work [V.G. Gurzadyan, R. Penrose]. After removing those spots from the data, no statistically significant low-variance circles can be found. Concerning Hawking points, also no statistically significant evidence is found when using a Gaussian temperature amplitude model over 1 degree opening angle and after accounting for spots of unusual brightness. That the unusual spots in the data are themselves remnants of Hawking points is not supported by low-variance and/or low-temperature circles around them. The absence of such statistically-significant distinct features in the currently available CMB data does not disprove the CCC model, but implies that higher resolution CMB data and/or refined CCC based predictions are needed to pursue the search for CCC signatures further
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2208_06021
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The quest for CMB signatures of Conformal Cyclic Cosmology
Bodnia, Eve
Isenbaev, Vlad
Colburn, Kellan
Swearngin, Joe
Bouwmeester, Dirk
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Circles of low-variance and Hawking points in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting from black hole mergers and black hole evaporation, respectively, in a previous cycle of the universe, have been predicted as possible evidence for the Conformal Cyclic Cosmology model (CCC) introduced by R. Penrose. We present a high-resolution search for such low-variance circles in the Planck and WMAP CMB data, and introduce HawkingNet, our machine learning open-source software based on a ResNet18 algorithm, to search for Hawking points in the CMB. We find that spots consisting of a few unusually bright (high-temperature) or dark (low-temperature) pixels, erroneously lead to regions with many low-variance circles, and consequently sets of near-concentric low-variance circles, when applying the search criteria used in previous work [V.G. Gurzadyan, R. Penrose]. After removing those spots from the data, no statistically significant low-variance circles can be found. Concerning Hawking points, also no statistically significant evidence is found when using a Gaussian temperature amplitude model over 1 degree opening angle and after accounting for spots of unusual brightness. That the unusual spots in the data are themselves remnants of Hawking points is not supported by low-variance and/or low-temperature circles around them. The absence of such statistically-significant distinct features in the currently available CMB data does not disprove the CCC model, but implies that higher resolution CMB data and/or refined CCC based predictions are needed to pursue the search for CCC signatures further
title The quest for CMB signatures of Conformal Cyclic Cosmology
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.06021