Examination of frequency and scale dependence of CMB hemispherical power asymmetry
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866915740367454208 |
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| author | Sanyal, Sanjeev Aluri, Pavan Kumar Shafieloo, Arman |
| author_facet | Sanyal, Sanjeev Aluri, Pavan Kumar Shafieloo, Arman |
| contents | In this study, we revisit the well-known cosmic microwave background (CMB) anomaly referred to as Hemispherical Power Asymmetry (HPA), using CMB temperature maps from the Planck mission public release 4 (PR4) and the WMAP nine-year data release. Employing the Local Variance Estimator (LVE) method, we systematically reexamine the properties of HPA to investigate possible frequency dependence as well as scale dependence in its amplitude and direction. We model the HPA as a scale-dependent dipole modulation following a power-law form, rather than assuming a scale-invariant case.
Our analysis incorporates seven cleaned frequency-specific CMB temperature maps from both the Planck and WMAP missions to test the robustness of the observed asymmetry across instruments and frequency channels. We find that the dipolar modulation characteristic of HPA is present in all cases examined, with consistent estimates of the preferred direction and scale-dependent variation in dipole amplitudes. These results support the conclusion that the observed asymmetry is unlikely to arise from instrumental artifacts or data-processing effects, and instead points toward a persistent large-scale feature of the CMB sky with a possible cosmological origin. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_13830 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Examination of frequency and scale dependence of CMB hemispherical power asymmetry Sanyal, Sanjeev Aluri, Pavan Kumar Shafieloo, Arman Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics In this study, we revisit the well-known cosmic microwave background (CMB) anomaly referred to as Hemispherical Power Asymmetry (HPA), using CMB temperature maps from the Planck mission public release 4 (PR4) and the WMAP nine-year data release. Employing the Local Variance Estimator (LVE) method, we systematically reexamine the properties of HPA to investigate possible frequency dependence as well as scale dependence in its amplitude and direction. We model the HPA as a scale-dependent dipole modulation following a power-law form, rather than assuming a scale-invariant case. Our analysis incorporates seven cleaned frequency-specific CMB temperature maps from both the Planck and WMAP missions to test the robustness of the observed asymmetry across instruments and frequency channels. We find that the dipolar modulation characteristic of HPA is present in all cases examined, with consistent estimates of the preferred direction and scale-dependent variation in dipole amplitudes. These results support the conclusion that the observed asymmetry is unlikely to arise from instrumental artifacts or data-processing effects, and instead points toward a persistent large-scale feature of the CMB sky with a possible cosmological origin. |
| title | Examination of frequency and scale dependence of CMB hemispherical power asymmetry |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.13830 |