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# A Study of Ultra-Luminous X-ray Sources from the Chandra Archive of Galaxies

## 1 Introduction

Among the most intriguing objects in the X-ray sky are the non-nuclear Ultra-Luminous X-ray (ULX) sources in nearby galaxies. This name describes those sources considerably more luminous than expected for a spherically-accreting object of typical neutron star mass. Here, we define ULX sources to be those with apparent (i.e., assumed isotropically emitting) intrinsic luminosities in excess of $`10^{39}`$ erg/s in the 0.5-8.0 keV bandpass.

Through the first 2 years or so of operation, the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) has imaged enough nearby galaxies using the ACIS CCD Imaging Spectrometer to undertake a systematic and uniform analysis of their ULX population. Ultimately, we wish to know the full pedigree of these extreme objects: what are their origins and history; why and how do they differ from their more-common low-lumiosity cousins; what does the population of ULX sources reveal about the nature of galaxy formation and evolution; and what influence do ULX sources have on their local environments? Here, we report principally the correlations between ULXs and global properties of their host galaxies.

## 2 X-Ray Data Reduction Methods

Based on integration time and the best distance estimate available, we selected all those galaxies for which $``$100 source counts are expected from a ULX. In integration time units of ks and distances in Mpc, this corresponds to observations with $`t/D`$$`\stackrel{>}{}`$0.12. To date, 85 galaxies in the CXC public archive meet this selection criterion.

For all candidate galaxy ACIS images, the following steps were taken:

* All events within the $`D_{25}`$ isophote were extracted from Level 2 event files.
* X-ray sources (to $``$3.5 S/N) were located using standard methods.
* Source and local background spectra in the 0.5 – 8.0 keV energy range were extracted.
* Source count rates were determined and the source list ordered by decreasing count rate.
* The (binned) time series for each source and for the entire image field were constructed (the latter to help identify and eliminate high noise level intervals).
* Beginning with highest count-rate sources, simple models were fit to the spectra to establish spectral shapes and source luminosities. This process was extended to sources well below the $`10^{39}`$ erg/s ULX lower limit to ensure completeness of the sample for each galaxy. Sources within 5″ of the host galaxy center were omitted from consideration.
* Source positions were overlaid on optical images (usually DSS) to crudely map source locations to morphological features of host galaxies and to help eliminate obvious foreground objects. Similarly, ULX candidate source positions were queried using the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database to help eliminate known background QSOs.

## 3 The Sample of Galaxies

The CXO sample of galaxies is compared to the Tully catalogue of 2368 nearby galaxies in the two figures shown above. The CXO sample is composed of mostly nearby galaxies (Figure 1, left, note the large step at the Virgo cluster distance), with 1/2 the sample within 10 Mpc, and they are typically brighter in Blue luminosity (Figure 1, right). Throughout this work, the blue luminosity is used as a proxy for galaxy mass. Although blue light is more sensitive to the properties of the stellar population of the host galaxy than is visible light, the B-V colors of the CXO sample all fall within the range of 0.5 to 1.0 magnitudes and so $`B`$ is a good measure of mass.

Another means of displaying the dependence of the two samples on blue luminosity is shown in Figure 2. The mean absolute blue magnitude of the CXO sample is -20.6 or slightly brighter than that of the Tully catalogue at -19.4.

The CXO sample of galaxies spans the entire range of Hubble morphological types (Figure 3). There are 32 elliptical and lenticular galaxies and 50 spiral and irregular galaxies in the sample.

The distribution of the CXO sample of galaxies in blue and far-infrared (FIR) luminosity space is shown in Figure 4. The ellipticals are clustered near the upper left indicative of a relatively high mass per unit star-formation-rate (SFR) whereas the spiral galaxies generally span from lower-left to upper right in this plot going generally from small, late-type galaxies toward more massive early-type spirals. Note the several exceptions such as the starburst galaxy M82 ($`L_{\mathrm{FIR}}`$$`=10^{44}`$ , $`L_\mathrm{B}`$$`=2\times 10^{42}`$).

## 4 Correlations with Galaxy Properties

We have searched for correlations between the number and luminosities of ULX sources with numerous galaxy properties. Examples are shown in Figures 5 and 6. The distribution of X-ray luminosities of individual ULXs against the host galaxy’s FIR luminosity is shown above and against the B luminosity is shown below. There is a distinct separation between elliptical and spiral galaxies in FIR luminosity but that simply reflects the sample (see Figure 4). There is also a trend toward brighter ULXs in the spiral galaxies. However, there is also more ULX candidates in those galaxies and this trend may simply be a statistical fluctuation. Similarly, in blue light, there are more and brighter ULX candidates per galaxy in more massive (higher $`B`$ luminosity) galaxies. One expects to find more ULXs in more massive galaxies and perhaps, again, the trend toward more luminous ULXs is simply a statistical fluctuation.

The possible correlation with FIR luminosity is shown in a different way in Figure 7. Here, only the ULX sources with $`L_\mathrm{X}`$$`>10^{39}`$ erg/s are displayed. The figure at left shows that the brightest ULXs are indeed in the brightest FIR galaxies (although the distribution about the mean is broad, see Figure 6). The mean X-ray luminosity of ULXs in ellipticals is less than that in the spiral galaxies. At right we show that the number of ULXs per unit galaxy is strongly correlated with FIR luminosity.

In Figure 8 we show the only other strong correlation we have found between the number and luminosities of ULX sources with galaxy properties, namely, the distance to the host galaxy’s nearest neighbor (measured in units of the $`D_{25}`$ isophotal diameter). Those with seperations $`<`$1 are in the process of merging. They show much more activity (and high FIR luminosity, typically) and tend to have many ULXs. Ellipticals and spirals with more distant neighbors have much fewer ULXs and they are not as luminous although those in spirals are still more luminous than those in ellipticals.

## 5 ULX X-Ray Spectral Properties

In figure 9 is shown the distribution of the basic spectral parameters with the ULX source luminosities. Three simple models were used to characterize the 0.5 – 8.0 keV spectra of the ULX candidates. Statistically, about 50% were best-fit using an absorbed power law (mean spectral index for the group is 1.67) and about 50% are absorbed thermal emission spectra (mean temperature 2.9 keV). Only 5 or about 4% were best represented by an absorbed blackbody spectrum. Of course, many of the higher count sources will require more complex spectral models. This is work in progress. So far, no obvious correlation has been found between spectral properties and ULX luminosity nor with galaxy properties.

## 6 X-ray Luminosity Distributions

The luminosity functions of the entire CXO sample of ULX candidates is shown in Figure 10 along with the luminosity functions of the spirals and ellipticals. Also shown are a few of the galaxies with particularly high numbers of ULXs per galaxy. The horizontal scale has been extended to well below the ULX lower limit of $`10^{39}`$ erg/s to clearly show the incompleteness at low luminosities that results from our focus on the brightest objects. There are several features of interest. Clearly, the highest ULX luminosities in the spiral galaxies are much higher than those of the ellipticals and spirals dominate the total luminosity function throughout the entire range $`L_\mathrm{X}`$$`>10^{39}`$. (However, only $``$3/8 of the galaxies are ellipticals and lenticulars, a factor that has not been accounted for here.) At the very highest end, the spirals are dominated by the single galaxy pair NGC 4038/9, with about 40% of the ULXs brighter than $`5\times 10^{39}`$ erg/s within that one system. The ellipticals exhibit a very different luminosity function. The slope of the elliptical galaxy luminosity function above $`0.7\times 10^{39}`$ erg/s is -2.3 compared to -0.9 for spirals in the range $`(0.710)\times 10^{39}`$ and to -1.0 for the entire sample on that range. Above $`10^{40}`$ erg/s, there is a steep decline or cutoff in the luminosity function of the sample. There is also a distinct change in slope in the luminosity function of the elliptical galaxies at $`0.7\times 10^{39}`$ erg/s. This is a real feature as opposed to the gradual flattening at low luminosities due to incompleteness (occuring in most of the curves at around $`(24)\times 10^{38}`$ erg/s). Because of this incompleteness, it is not possible to distinguish any change in slope at $`2\times 10^{38}`$, the Eddington limit for typical neutron star accretors.

The correlation of ULX X-ray luminosity with host galaxy FIR luminosity discussed previously is evident in the luminosity functions shown in Figure 11. Here, the CXO sample has been partitioned into FIR luminosity ranges. With the exception of 2 very bright sources in the $`L_{\mathrm{FIR}}`$$`=10^{42}`$ to $`10^{43}`$ erg/s range, there is a definite trend with the brightest ULXs occuring in the FIR-brightest hosts. (The 2 “exceptions” are both located in a galaxy with $`L_{\mathrm{FIR}}`$$`=8.4\times 10^{42}`$, the brightest in the group and just below the upper limit of the range.)

## 7 Summary and Future Work

We have analyzed a sample of 85 galaxies available in the Chandra archive of ACIS images. About 120 ULX candidates have been identified and their spectral properties determined. Few correlations have been found so far between the number and luminosities of the ULX candidates and properties of the host galaxy population. Two correlations described here are with the galaxy’s FIR luminosity and with the galaxy’s interacting or merging status as measured by the distance to its nearest neighbor.

Future research will include:

* Further searches for correlations with other galaxy properties including the distributions of sources within the galaxy, correlations with spiral arms, bulges, bars, globular clusters, etc., and AGN activity.
* Refined modeling of the observed X-ray spectra, particularly of the highest count-rate sources where this is justified statistically.
* Source position refinement by registering to accurately-known positions of optical objects in the field, although Chandra positions are typically known to $``$0.6 arcsecs.
* Extension to other wavelengths, particularly using archival HST and radio data.
* Examination of sample biases and completeness.


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# Attractor Phantom Solution

## Abstract

ABSTRACT: In light of recent study on the dark energy models that manifest an equation of state $`w<1`$, we investigate the cosmological evolution of such a phantom field in a specific potential, exponential potential in this paper. The phase plane analysis show that the there is a late time attractor solution in this model, which address the similar issues as that of fine tuning problems in conventional quintessence models. The equation of state $`w`$ is determined by the attractor which is dependent on the $`\lambda `$ parameter in the potential. We also show that this model is stable for our present observable Universe.

1. Introduction

Recent observation shows that our universe is made up of roughly two third of dark energy that has negative pressure and can drive the accelerating expansion of the universenewobservation . Present data from the observation allows the equation of state in the range $`1.62<w<0.74`$melchiorri . However, the equation of state of conventional quintessence modelssteinhardt that based on a scalar field and positive kinetic energy can not evolve to the the regime of $`w<1`$. Some authorscaldwell1 ; sahni ; parker ; chiba ; boisseau ; schulz ; faraoni ; maor ; onemli ; torres ; carroll ; frampton ; caldwell2 ; gibbons  investigated a phantom field model which has negative kinetic energy and can realize the $`w<1`$ in its evolution. Although the introduction of a phantom field causes many theoretical problems such as the violation of some widely accepted energy condition and the rapid vacuum decaycarroll , it is still very interesting in the sense that it can fit current observations well. Comparing with other approaches to realizing the $`w<1`$, such as the modification of Friedman equation, it seems more economical.

In this paper, provisionally leaving aside the theoretical puzzles about phantom field, we study the detailed evolution of the phantom field and the attractor property of its solution via a specific model. by using the qualitative approach to the dynamical system, phase plane analysis, we prove the existence of a late time attractor solution, at which the phantom become dominant and the equation of state is freezed with only small oscillation. Exponential potentials attract much attention because they can be derived from the effective interaction in string theory, higher dimensional gravity and the non-perturbative effects such as gaugino condensationstring  and their roles in cosmological context have also been widely investigatedlucchin . We therefore consider the phantom evolution in exponential potential in the following.

2. Phantom in Exponential Potential

In the spatially flat Robertson-Walker metric,

$$ds^2=dt^2a^2(t)(dx^2+dy^2+dz^2)$$
(1)
The Lagrangian density for the spatially homogeneous phantom field is

$$L_\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{1}{2}g^{\mu \nu }(_\mu \varphi )(_\nu \varphi )V(\varphi )$$
(2)
when consider the presence of baryotropic fluid, the action for the model is

$$S=d^4x\sqrt{g}(\frac{1}{2\kappa ^2}R_sp_\gamma +L_\varphi )$$
(3)
where $`g`$ is the determinant of the metric tensor $`g_{\mu \nu }`$, $`\kappa ^2=8\pi G`$, $`R_s`$ is the Ricci scalar,and $`\rho _\gamma `$ is the density of fluid with a baryotropic equation of state $`p_\gamma =(\gamma 1)\rho _\gamma `$, where $`0\gamma 2`$ is a constant that relates to the equation of state by $`w=\gamma 1`$. By varying the action, one can obtain the Einstein equations and the equations of motion for the scalar field as

$$\dot{H}=\frac{\kappa ^2}{2}(\rho _\gamma +p_\gamma \dot{\varphi }^2)$$
(4)
$$\dot{\rho _\gamma }=3H(\rho _\gamma +p_\gamma )$$
(5)
$$\ddot{\varphi }+3H\dot{\varphi }+\lambda \kappa V(\varphi )=0$$
(6)
$$H^2=\frac{\kappa ^2}{3}[\rho _\gamma +\rho _\mathrm{\Phi }]$$
(7)
where

$$\rho _\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{1}{2}\dot{\varphi }^2+V(\varphi )$$
(8)
$$p_\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{1}{2}\dot{\varphi }^2V(\varphi )$$
(9)
are the energy density and pressure of the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field respectively , and $`H`$ is Hubble parameter. The potential $`V(\varphi )`$ is exponentially dependent on $`\varphi `$ as $`V(\varphi )=V_0\mathrm{exp}(\lambda \kappa \varphi )`$.The equation-of-state parameter for the phantom is

$$w=\frac{p_\mathrm{\Phi }}{\rho _\mathrm{\Phi }}=\frac{\dot{\varphi }^2+2V(\varphi )}{\dot{\varphi }^22V(\varphi )}$$
(10)
It is clear that the phantom field could realize the equation of state $`w<1`$ when

$$0<\dot{\varphi }^2<2V(\varphi )$$
(11)
3. Attractor Solution of Phantom Model

In this section, we investigate the global structure of the dynamical system via phase plane analysis and compute the cosmological evolution by numerical analysis. Introduce the following variables

$`x=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa }{\sqrt{6}H}}\dot{R}`$ (12)
$`y=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa \sqrt{V(R)}}{\sqrt{3}H}}`$
$`N=`$ $`\mathrm{log}a`$
the equation system(4-7) could be reexpressed as the following autonomous system:

$$\frac{dx}{dN}=\frac{3}{2}x[\gamma (1+x^2y^2)2x^2](3x+\sqrt{\frac{3}{2}}\lambda y^2)$$
(13)
$$\frac{dy}{dN}=\frac{3}{2}y[\gamma (1+x^2y^2)2x^2]\sqrt{\frac{3}{2}}\lambda xy$$
(14)
Also, we have a constraint equation

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi +\frac{\kappa ^2\rho _\gamma }{3H^2}=1$$
(15)
where

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi =\frac{\kappa ^2\rho _\varphi }{3H^2}=y^2x^2$$
(16)
The equation of state for the scalar fields could be expressed in term of the new variables as

$$w_\varphi =\frac{P_\varphi }{\rho _\varphi }=\frac{x^2+y^2}{x^2y^2}$$
(17)
It is not difficult to find the physically meaningful critical points $`(x_c,y_c)`$ are $`(0,0)`$ and $`(\frac{\lambda }{\sqrt{6}},\sqrt{1+\frac{\lambda ^2}{6}})`$. To gain some insight into the property of the critical points, we write the variables near the critical points $`(x_c,y_c)`$ in the form

$`x=x_c+u`$ (18)
$`y=y_c+v`$
where $`u,v`$ are perturbations of the variables near the critical points. Substitute the expression (18) into the autonomous system (4-7), one can obtain the equations for the linear perturbations up to the first order as following:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{du}{dN}}=M_{11}u+M_{12}v`$ (19)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{du}{dN}}=M_{21}u+M_{22}v`$
The coefficients of the perturbation equations form a $`2\times 2`$ matrix $`M`$ whose eigenvalues determine the type and stability of the critical points. One can easily find that the eigenvalues of $`M`$ for $`(0,0)`$ is $`(\frac{3}{2}(2+\gamma ),\frac{3\gamma }{2})`$ and those for $`(\frac{\lambda }{\sqrt{6}},\sqrt{1+\frac{\lambda ^2}{6}})`$ is $`(3\frac{\lambda ^2}{2},3\gamma \lambda ^2)`$. Therefore, point (0,0) is a saddle point while $`(\frac{\lambda }{\sqrt{6}},\sqrt{1+\frac{\lambda ^2}{6}})`$ is a stable node, which corresponds to an attractor solution. At this attractor solution, from Eq.(16, 17 ), we know that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi =1`$ and $`w_\varphi =1\frac{\lambda ^2}{3}`$, which indicate the phantom domination and the possibility of $`w<1`$.

Next, we study the system by numerical analysis. The results are in Fig.1, Fig.2 and Fig.3. The computation was done at $`\lambda =1.2`$ and $`\gamma =1.0`$. From the figures, we can find that the attractor property of the solution and the phantom field will slightly oscillate around the fixed point at late time and the equation of state is smaller than $`1`$.

4. Discussion

We studied a specific phantom model and show that there exists a late time attractor solution in the evolution of the field. The late time attractor solution corresponds to the phantom dominate phase and the equation of state could be smaller than $`1`$. This is a very interesting feature of the model we considered here. Now, we consider the stability of the phantom field under perturbation in such a potential. The perturbed metric in synchronous gauge could be expressed ascaldwell1 ; carroll

$$ds^2=dt^2a^2(t)(\delta _{ij}h_{ij})dx^idx^j$$
(20)
Then, a Fourier mode of the phantom field

$$\delta \varphi (t,\text{k})=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }}\delta \varphi (t,\text{x})e^{i\text{k}\text{x}}d^3x$$
(21)
satisfies the equation of motion

$$\delta \ddot{\varphi _k}+3H\delta \dot{\varphi _k}+(k^2V\mathrm{"}(\varphi ))=\frac{1}{2}\dot{h}\dot{\varphi }$$
(22)
where the $`h`$ is the trace of $`h_{ij}`$ and the prime denote the derivative with respect to $`\varphi `$. The effective mass for the perturbation is $`[k^2V\mathrm{"}(\varphi )]^{1/2}`$. When the potential is chosen as the exponential $`V(\varphi )=V_0\mathrm{exp}(\lambda \kappa \varphi )`$, we have $`[k^2\lambda ^2\kappa ^2V_0\mathrm{exp}(\lambda \kappa \varphi )]^{1/2}`$. When the field evolves to its stable attractor solution, the cutoff wave number of the perturbation should be

$$k<\lambda H\sqrt{3+\frac{\lambda ^2}{2}}$$
(23)
so that the instability does not appear. Surely, it is not to say that the instability will not appear during the evolution before the field reaches the attractor. Since we do not know what will be the specific evolution track the field took in the past, we can only say that at present situation, which is the attractor solution epoch, the perturbation should not violate Eq.(23) to safeguard the stability of the phantom field. Another remarkable feature of such an model is that the evolution of field is toward to its attractor no matter what is its initial value. Since $`w_\varphi =1\frac{\lambda ^2}{3}`$, it is determined by the parameter $`\lambda `$ of the potential and is independent of the choice of the initial value of the field, which make the fine tuning of the field unnecessary.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This work was partially supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 19875016, National Doctor Foundation of China under Grant No. 1999025110, and Foundation of Shanghai Development for Science and Technology under Grant No.01JC14035.


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# Intercalibration of Cherenkov Telescopes in Telescope Arrays

## Abstract

A simple analysis technique is described which allows to intercalibrate the response of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in stereoscopic telescope arrays at a level of 1-2%.

With the next-generation imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes currently under construction, stereoscopic arrays of telescopes such as VERITAS , CANGAROO III  and H.E.S.S.  play a dominant role. Stereoscopic systems of Cherenkov telescopes for VHE gamma-ray astrophysics provide - compared to a single telescope - superior angular resolution, energy resolution and background rejection, as demonstrated by the HEGRA group . Making use of information concerning the impact point of showers and the height of the shower maximum, energy resolutions around 10% are possible . To actually obtain this resolution, the relative response of the telescopes, i.e. the relation between the light yield and the digital counts provided by the ADC system must be known with very good precision. Photon detectors within one telescope can be flat-fielded using a light pulser in the center of the dish. Telescope-to-telescope intercalibration is more complicated, and recently e.g. the use of cosmic ray trigger rates and the so-called throughput method has been advocated for this purpose . In the following, a simple technique for telescope intercalibration is discussed (see also ).

Once a telescope is properly flat-fielded, one needs only one global calibration factor per telescope, relating the image size - the sum of the amplitudes of all image pixels - to the photon yield, up to some overall calibration factor common to all telescopes of an array. The response of two telescopes can be compared by selecting showers with cores in the middle between two telescopes, and comparing the image sizes of both telescopes. However, in systems with more than two telescopes, one needs to be careful not to introduce a bias due to other telescopes involved in the triggering or the event reconstruction. Testing the technique with the HEGRA telescope system, the following procedure was followed:

* To compare the response of two telescopes, events were selected where both telescopes under consideration had triggered (and possible others in addition)
* Only information from the two telescopes under consideration was used in reconstruction the shower; images from other telescopes were ignored.
* To reduce the influence of trigger thresholds, a cut well above the threshold was applied; the sum of the image sizes of the two telescopes had to be above 200 photoelectrons.
* To improve image quality and reconstruction, only images within a radius of $`1.75^{}`$ from the camera center were used, avoiding image truncation. The (stereo) angle between the two image axes had to be at least $`30^{}`$. Reconstructed shower directions had to be within $`0.7^{}`$ from the telescope axis.

The relative response of two telescopes $`i`$ and $`j`$ was then characterized by plotting the size asymmetry $`a_s`$ versus the asymmetry $`a_r`$ in impact distance (Fig. 1), where

$$a_{s(ij)}=\frac{s_is_j}{s_i+s_j}$$

and

$$a_{r(ij)}=\frac{r_ir_j}{r_i+r_j}$$

Here, $`s_i`$ is the image size in telescope $`i`$ and $`r_i`$ its distance to the reconstructed shower impact point, measured perpendicular to the shower axis. The asymmetry parameters were chosen because they treat both telescopes in a symmetrical fashion; one could also use $`\mathrm{log}(s_i/s_j)`$ or similar quantities.

To evaluate the relative response of the two telescopes, one needs to determine the average $`a_s`$ for $`a_r=0`$. This can be achieved by averaging $`a_s`$ for bins of $`a_r`$ and then fitting a smooth curve to $`<a_s(a_r)>`$, or, if event statistics is high enough, by simply cutting on $`a_r`$. For the following examples, the mean value of $`a_s(a_r0)`$ were obtained by fitting a Gaussian to the distribution of $`a_s`$ for $`|a_r|<0.05`$. The method was first applied to Monte-Carlo simulations of the HEGRA telescope system in its 1997 configuration, with four telescopes; one of the outer telescopes was still incomplete. In the simulation, the response of the four telescopes (for historical reasons labelled CT3, CT4, CT5, CT6) was adjusted as 1 : 0.8 : 1.1 : 1.3. The “measured” size asymmetries are listed in the following table; the last column gives the values expected on the basis of the input response factors.

| Telescopes | asymmetry | true value |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | $`\pm 0.002`$ |  |
| CT3-CT4 | 0.113 | 0.111 |
| CT3-CT5 | -0.052 | -0.048 |
| CT3-CT6 | -0.128 | -0.130 |
| CT4-CT5 | -0.160 | -0.158 |
| CT4-CT6 | -0.242 | -0.238 |
| CT5-CT6 | -0.082 | -0.082 |

From the first three lines, one readily determines a relative response of the telescopes to 1 : 0.797 : 1.109 : 1.292 111Table and results rounded to three digits; calculations and fits used higher precision, in agreement with the input values to better than 1%. With six measurements for three independent quantities (arbitrarily defining the response factor for CT3 as unity), one should determine optimum calibration factors by a fit to all measurements; such a fit yields response ratios of 1 : 0.797 : 1.104 : 1.300, with typical errors of 0.003 and a $`\chi ^2`$ of 5.2 for 3 degrees of freedom, indicating that small systematic effects may be present beyond the statistical errors.

The method was then applied to actual HEGRA data, from observations of Mkn 501 in 1997. Two independent data samples were considered, (a) a background-subtracted gamma-ray sample obtained by cutting on the mean scaled width of images and on the reconstructed direction relative to the source, and (b) a cosmic-ray sample. The measured asymmetries are given in the following table:

| Telescopes | sample (a) | sample (b) |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | $`\pm 0.006`$ | $`\pm 0.003`$ |
| CT3-CT4 | 0.033 | 0.021 |
| CT3-CT5 | 0.071 | 0.073 |
| CT3-CT6 | 0.117 | 0.114 |
| CT4-CT5 | 0.037 | 0.039 |
| CT4-CT6 | 0.089 | 0.084 |
| CT5-CT6 | 0.023 | 0.045 |

Fits for the telescope response factors yield

sample (a): CT3 : CT4 : CT5 : CT6 = 1 : 0.937 : 0.857 : 0.797
sample (b): CT3 : CT4 : CT5 : CT6 = 1 : 0.948 : 0.872 : 0.798
with typical errors of 0.01 for sample (a) and 0.005 for sample (b). The results are consistent within errors; the $`\chi ^2`$ values for the fits are 9.7 and 7.5, again slightly worse than expected for purely statistical errors.

In summary, the method allows an easy intercalibration of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in a telescope system. Both the simulations and the comparison of two independent data samples shows that a precision of 1-2% can be reached, which is ample even for a 10% overall energy resolution. For systems with more than two telescopes, the equation system is overdetermined and consistency checks are possible, e.g. in the form of the $`\chi ^2`$ value of an overall fit. The method can be applied to systems with arbitrary numbers of telescopes, provided that they do not separate into multiple distant clusters of telescopes. The absolute calibration for the whole system can be determined in a subsequent step, e.g., using cosmic-ray detection rates (see, e.g. ).

Acknowledgements. The support of the German Ministry for Education and Research BMBF is acknowledged. The author is grateful to the members of the HEGRA collaboration, who have participated in the development, installation, and operation of the telescopes, and in the data precessing.


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# First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAPWMAP is the result of a partnership between Princeton University and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Scientific guidance is provided by the WMAP Science Team. ) Observations: Preliminary Maps and Basic Results

## 1 INTRODUCTION

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation was first detected by Penzias & Wilson (1965). After its discovery, a small number of experimentalists worked for years to better characterize the CMB as they searched for temperature fluctuations. A leader of this effort, and of the WMAP effort, was our recently deceased colleague, Professor David T. Wilkinson of Princeton University. He was also a leading member of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission team, which accurately characterized the spectrum of the CMB (Mather et al., 1990, 1999) and first discovered anisotropy (Smoot et al., 1992; Bennett et al., 1992; Kogut et al., 1992; Wright et al., 1992). The MAP was recently renamed WMAP in his honor.

The general recognition that the CMB is a primary tool for determining the global properties, content, and history of the universe has led to the tremendous interest and growth of the field. In addition to the characterization of the large-scale anisotropy results from COBE (Bennett et al., 1996; Hinshaw et al., 1996a, b; Kogut et al., 1996b, c, a; Górski et al., 1996; Wright et al., 1996a), a host of experiments have measured the finer scale anisotropy (Benoit et al., 2003; Grainge et al., 2003; Pearson et al., 2002; Ruhl et al., 2003; Kuo et al., 2002; Dawson et al., 2001; Halverson et al., 2002; Hanany et al., 2000; Leitch et al., 2000; Wilson et al., 2000; Padin et al., 2001; Romeo et al., 2001; Harrison et al., 2000; Peterson et al., 2000; Baker et al., 1999; Coble et al., 1999; Dicker et al., 1999; Miller et al., 1999; de Oliverira-Costa et al., 1998; Cheng et al., 1997; Hancock et al., 1997; Netterfield et al., 1997; Piccirillo et al., 1997; Tucker et al., 1997; Gundersen et al., 1995; de Bernardis et al., 1994; Ganga et al., 1993; Myers et al., 1993; Tucker et al., 1993). As a result of these tremendous efforts, the first acoustic peak of the anisotropy power spectrum has been unambiguously detected (Knox & Page, 2000; Mauskopf et al., 2000; Miller et al., 1999) and CMB observations have placed important constraints on cosmological models. Recently, Kovac et al. (2002) reported the first detection of CMB polarization arising from the anisotropic scattering of CMB photons at decoupling, ushering in a new era of CMB polarization measurements.

The WMAP mission was designed to advance observational cosmology by making full sky CMB maps with accuracy, precision, and reliability, as described by Bennett et al. (2003a). The instrument observes the temperature difference between two directions (as did COBE) using two nearly identical sets of optics (Page et al., 2003c, a). These optics focus radiation into horns (Barnes et al., 2002) that feed differential microwave radiometers (Jarosik et al., 2003a). We produce full sky maps in five frequency bands from the radiometer data of temperature differences measured over the full sky. A CMB map is the most compact representation of CMB anisotropy without loss of information.

In this paper we present the maps, their properties, and a synopsis of the basic results of the first-year of observations. In §2 we give a brief overview of the WMAP mission. In §3 we summarize the data analysis, calibration, and systematic errors of the experiment, which are discussed in much greater detail in the companion papers by Hinshaw et al. (2003a), Page et al. (2003a), Jarosik et al. (2003b), and Barnes et al. (2003). In §4 we present the maps and their sampling properties, and we compare the WMAP and COBE maps. In §5 we summarize the foreground analyses of Bennett et al. (2003a). In §6 we establish the Gaussian nature of the WMAP anisotropy, determined in the companion paper of Komatsu et al. (2003). In §7 we present the dipole and quadrupole moments and summarize analyses of the angular power spectrum (Hinshaw et al., 2003b; Verde et al., 2003). In §8 we highlight the WMAP polarization results, including a detection of the reionization of the universe (Kogut et al., 2003). In §9 we summarize some of the cosmological implications of the WMAP results (Page et al., 2003c; Spergel et al., 2003; Peiris et al., 2003). Finally, in §10 we discuss the availability of the WMAP data products.

## 2 OBSERVATIONS

The 840 kg WMAP Observatory was launched aboard a Delta II 7425-10 rocket (Delta launch number 286) on 30 June 2001 at 3:46:46.183 EDT from Cape Canaveral. WMAP executed three phasing loops in the Earth-Moon system before a lunar-gravity-assist swing-by, a month after launch, catapulted WMAP to an orbit about the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, L2. Station-keeping is performed approximately four times per year to maintain the Observatory in a Lissajous orbit about the L2 point with the Earth-WMAP vector within about $`1^{}10^{}`$ of the Sun-Earth vector. The phasing loop maneuvers and station-keeping are executed using the WMAP propulsion system of blow-down hydrazine and eight thrusters.

The central design philosophy of the WMAP mission was to minimize sources of systematic measurement errors (Bennett et al., 2003a). The COBE mission proved the effectiveness of a differential design in minimizing systematic errors. Therefore, the WMAP instrument was designed with a back-to-back optical system with 1.4 m $`\times `$ 1.6 m primary reflectors to provide for differential measurements of the sky. The primary and secondary reflectors direct radiation into two focal planes, with ten feed horns in each, as described by Page et al. (2003c).

The beams have a gain pattern, $`G`$, which is neither symmetric nor Gaussian. We define the beam solid angle as $`G(\mathrm{\Omega })/G_{\mathrm{max}}𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }`$. The beam size can be expressed as the square root of the beam solid angles, giving 0.22, 0.35, 0.51, 0.66, and 0.88 for W-band though K-band, respectively. Alternately, the beams can be expressed in terms of a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) for each band, given in Table 1. Detailed analyses of the WMAP beams are discussed by Page et al. (2003a, c).

The feed horns are attached to orthomode transducers (OMTs) that split the polarization of the incoming signal into a differential correlation radiometer system with High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) amplifiers. There are ten “differencing assemblies” each consisting of two “radiometers” with two “channels” each (Jarosik et al., 2003a; Bennett et al., 2003a). There are four W-band ($`94`$ GHz), two V-band ($``$61 GHz), two Q-band ($``$ 41 GHz), one Ka-band ($``$ 33 GHz), and one K-band ($``$ 23 GHz) differencing assemblies. We usually refer to these bands by the generic designations K, Ka, Q, V, and W because there are multiple radiometers in each band, whose precise frequencies are not identical. Also, the effective frequency of a radiometer depends on the spectrum of the emission it detects. Precise frequencies for the radiometers for a CMB anisotropy spectrum are given by Jarosik et al. (2003a). Polynomials are given to determine the effective frequency of the radiometers depending on the emission frequency spectrum. See Table 1 for a summary of radiometer properties.

Undesirable $`1/f`$ noise is minimized by the design of the WMAP radiometers (Jarosik et al., 2003a). All radiometers have $`1/f`$ knees below 50 mHz; 18 of 20 are below 10 mHz; and 10 of the 20 are below 1 mHz Jarosik et al. (2003b). (The $`1/f`$ knee is defined as the frequency where the noise power spectral density is $`\sqrt{2}`$ times higher than its high frequency value.) Jarosik et al. (2003a) demonstrate that all radiometer outputs have Gaussian noise, which “integrates down” with time as expected.

The radiometers are passively cooled to $`90`$ K with no mechanical refrigerators. In addition, no actively cycling heaters were permitted anywhere on the WMAP spacecraft. These design features helped to ensure a mechanically, thermally, and electronically quiet platform that minimizes the driving forces of systematic measurement errors.

In addition to the differential design, the COBE mission also demonstrated the importance of scanning large areas of the sky in a short period of time with a complex scan pattern. WMAP follows the COBE example with a three-axis (three reaction wheel) control system that maintains the Observatory in a nearly constant survey mode of operations. (The Observatory is in constant survey mode, except for only $`1`$ hr for each of $`4`$ station-keeping maneuvers per year.) In survey mode, the optical boresight sweeps out a complex pattern on the sky (Bennett et al., 2003a). Approximately 30% of the sky is observed each hour. The Observatory spins at 0.464 rpm ($``$7.57 mHz) and precesses at 1 rev hr-1 ($``$ 0.3 mHz).

Six months are required for L2 to orbit half way around the Sun, allowing for full sky coverage. The observations presented in this and companion papers include a full orbit about the Sun, thus containing two sets of full sky observations. By 10 August 2001, WMAP was sufficiently stable in its L2 orbit for CMB data-taking to commence. One year of observations, completed on 9 August 2002, were analyzed. Data taken beyond this date will be the subject of future analyses.

## 3 DATA PROCESSING, CALIBRATION, & SYSTEMATIC ERRORS

Time-ordered telemetry data from the Observatory are down-linked via NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) to the WMAP Science and Mission Operations Center (SMOC) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The data are then transferred to the WMAP Science Team for analysis. All of the instrument data are down-linked to the ground without any on-board flight data processing, thus allowing full insight into potential systematic effects.

Only a fraction of a percent of data was lost in the flow from the Observatory to the SMOC. About 1% of the received data were not used due to systematic error concerns (e.g., data taken during near station-keeping maneuvers). Of the $`99`$% good data, the processing pipeline flagged observations where bright planets were in the beams so that these data would not used be used in making maps. The statistics on lost, bad, and flagged data are given in Table 2.

An overview of the data flow is shown in Figure 1. The heart of the data analysis efforts center on studies of systematic measurement errors (Hinshaw et al., 2003b). Components of spurious signals at the spin period are the most difficult to distinguish from true sky signals. The Observatory was designed to minimize all thermal and voltage variations and all susceptibilities to these variations, especially at the spin period, as discussed in §2 and by Bennett et al. (2003a). In addition, high precision temperature monitors on the Observatory provide the data needed to verify that systematic errors from thermal variations are negligible. Jarosik et al. (2003b) report that in-flight spin-synchronous effects from the radiometers are $`<0.17\mu `$K rms in the time-ordered-data (TOD), based on flight thermal variations multiplied by upper limits on component susceptibilities measured in ground testing. Analysis of flight data without use of characterizations derived from ground-based testing give $`<0.14\mu `$K rms from all sources (not just the radiometers). This is a factor of $`>50`$ times smaller than the requirement that was set in the mission’s systematic error budget. Thus, no corrections to the first year WMAP data are required for spin-synchronous systematic errors.

The core of the processing pipeline calibrates the data and converts the differential temperatures into maps. The data are calibrated based on the Earth-velocity modulation of the CMB dipole. A gain model of the radiometers was derived and fit by Jarosik et al. (2003b). The model is based on the constancy of the dipole signal on the sky, the measured physical temperature of the front-end radiometer components, and on the time-averaged RF-bias (total power) of the radiometer outputs. This relatively simple model closely matches the gains derived from the hourly measurements of the amplitude of the dipole and is used in WMAP data processing. Calibration is achieved within 0.5% accuracy, dominated by the statistical uncertainty in the absolute calibration.

Low levels of $`1/f`$ noise create stripes in the maps that affect the angular power spectrum and other statistics derived from the maps. A pre-whitening filter is applied to the TOD to minimize these artifacts. An estimate of the magnitude of the striping is given in Hinshaw et al. (2003b) for the maps, and by Hinshaw et al. (2003a) for the power spectrum.

The differential temperature data are formed into maps based on the technique introduced by Wright et al. (1996b). HEALPix111http://www.eso.org/science/healpix/ is used to define map pixels on the sky in Galactic coordinates. Various levels of resolution are specified by a “resolution level” with an integer ($`r=0,1,2,\mathrm{}`$). With $`N_{\mathrm{side}}=2^r`$, the number of pixels in the map is $`N_{\mathrm{pix}}=12N_{\mathrm{side}}^2`$. The area per pixel is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{pix}}=4\pi /N_{\mathrm{pix}}`$ and the separation between pixel centers is $`\theta _{\mathrm{pix}}=\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{pix}}^{1/2}`$. For example, HEALPix resolution level $`r=9`$ (used in WMAP map-making) corresponds with $`N_{\mathrm{side}}=512`$, $`N_{\mathrm{pix}}=\mathrm{3\hspace{0.17em}145\hspace{0.17em}728}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{pix}}=3.99\times 10^6`$ sr, and $`\theta _{\mathrm{pix}}=0\text{.}^{}115=6.87`$ arc-min.

WMAP observes the sky convolved with the beam pattern. This is equivalent to the the spatial transform of the sky multiplied by the instrument’s “window function.” The beam patterns are measured in-flight from observations of Jupiter (Page et al., 2003a). Uncertainties in our knowledge of the beam pattern, although small, are a significant source of uncertainty for WMAP since they imply imperfect knowledge of the window function. A small difference between the A-side and B-side optical losses was derived based on dipole observations and corrected in the processing. Far sidelobes of the beam patterns, determined by ground measurements and in-flight using the Moon, have been carefully examined (Barnes et al., 2003). A small far-sidelobe correction is applied only to the K-band map. We now describe the maps.

## 4 THE MAPS

We combine the radiometer results within each band and present the five full sky maps at effective CMB anisotropy frequencies 23, 33, 41, 61, and 94 GHz in Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e. The maps are shown in the Mollweide projection in units of CMB thermodynamic temperature. The number of independent observations that contribute to each pixel form the sky pattern in Figure 3. Figure 4 provides an overall guide to some of the more prominent features of the maps as well as point sources detected by WMAP, as described by Bennett et al. (2003b).

Figure 5 shows the K-band and Ka-band maps, with the Ka-band map smoothed to K-band resolution. Note both the significant decrease in Galactic signal from K-band to Ka-band and the high Galactic latitude similarities of the CMB between the maps. Likewise, Figure 6 shows the Q-band, V-band, and W-band maps with the latter two smoothed to Q-band resolution. Higher Galactic contamination in Q-band is apparent. Both Figures 5 and 6 highlight the consistency of the high Galactic latitude CMB anisotropy pattern from band to band.

Comparisons of data between WMAP radiometers, and between WMAP and COBE, are important indicators of systematic error levels. Figure 7 illustrates the enormous improvement in angular resolution from COBE to WMAP. Features in the maps appear to be generally consistent, but the consistency is better addressed by a more direct comparison. To do this we take a combination of the WMAP Q-band and V-band maps and smooth it to mimic a COBE-DMR 53 GHz map (see Figure 8). We then examine the difference between the COBE and WMAP pseudo-map. Figure 9 shows the difference map along with a simulated map of the noise. With the exception of a feature in the Galactic plane, the agreement is clearly at the noise level. The Galactic plane feature is likely to be a result of the spectral index uncertainty of combining the Q-band and V-band maps to make a 53 GHz equivalent map.

## 5 FOREGROUND ANALYSES

An understanding of diffuse Galactic emission and extragalactic point sources is necessary for CMB analyses. The WMAP mission carries radiometers at five frequencies for the purpose of separating the CMB anisotropy from foreground emission based on their different spectra. Figure 10 illustrates the spectral difference between the CMB and foregrounds. The WMAP bands were selected to be near the frequency where the ratio of the CMB anisotropy to the contaminating foreground is at a maximum.

### 5.1 Masks

For CMB analyses it is necessary to mask out regions of bright foreground emission. Bennett et al. (2003c) present a recipe for foreground masks based on K-band temperature levels. Since foreground contamination is most severe in K-band, it is used as the best tracer of contamination. The contamination morphology is similar enough across all five WMAP bands that masks based on the temperature levels in other bands would be redundant and unnecessary. Standard names are given for the mask levels. For example, the Kp0 mask cuts 21.4% of sky pixels while the Kp2 mask cuts 13.1%. See Bennett et al. (2003c) for further detail. An extragalactic point source mask is also constructed based on selections from source catalogs. An additional 2% of pixels are masked due to these $`700`$ sources.

### 5.2 Diffuse Galactic emission

Beyond the use of masks, one technique for reducing the level of foreground contamination is to form a linear combination of the multifrequency WMAP data that retains unity response for only the emission component with a CMB spectrum. This technique was introduced for COBE by Bennett et al. (1992). With five WMAP bands instead of the three on COBE, and with a somewhat more elaborate approach for WMAP, Bennett et al. (2003c) arrive at the internal (WMAP data only) linear combination map seen in Figure 11 of this paper. The foregrounds are removed to a remarkable degree; however, the statistics of this internal linear combination map are complex and inappropriate for most CMB analyses.

Below, we use the notation convention that flux density is $`S\nu ^\alpha `$ and antenna temperature is $`T_A\nu ^\beta `$, where the spectral indices are related by $`\beta =\alpha 2`$. In general, the CMB is expressed in terms of thermodynamic temperature, while Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds are expressed in antenna temperature. Thermodynamic temperature differences are given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }T=\mathrm{\Delta }T_A[(e^x1)^2/x^2e^x]`$, where $`x=h\nu /kT_0`$, $`h`$ is the Planck constant, $`\nu `$ is frequency, $`k`$ is the Boltzmann constant, and $`T_0=2.725`$ K is the CMB temperature (Mather et al., 1999). Values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }T/\mathrm{\Delta }T_A`$ for the WMAP bands are given by Jarosik et al. (2003b) and can be found in Table 1.

Bennett et al. (2003c) identify the amplitudes and spectral indices of the individual emission components. A maximum entropy method (MEM) approach is adopted where priors are used for component amplitudes and spectral indices, except for free-free emission, which has a fixed spectral index ($`\beta =2.15`$ in the WMAP bands). An iterative fit is performed, where the pixel-by-pixel amplitudes are updated in accordance with the MEM residuals until low ($`<1`$%) residuals are achieved. The process results in a map of each emission component for each of the five WMAP bands. The derived maps of thermal emission from dust give a uniform spectral index across the sky of $`\beta _d2.2`$. The derived map of free-free emission is reasonable given the amplitude and morphology of H$`\alpha `$ measurements. The other radio component fit should include the combined emission of synchrotron and spinning dust. It shows the synchrotron spectrum steepening with increasing frequency, as would be expected for a spectral break due to synchrotron losses at $`20`$ GHz. There is no indication of the less steep or flattening spectral index that would result from spinning dust emission. The spinning dust emission is limited to $`<5`$% of the total Ka-band foreground. Reports of dust-correlated microwave emission from COBE data analyses are understood as an admixture of the fraction of synchrotron emission (with $`\beta 3`$) that is traced by a dust template, and thermal dust emission ($`\beta 2.2`$), giving a combined spectral index of $`\beta 2.2`$ between the WMAP Ka-band and V-band, approximating the COBE 31 GHz and 53 GHz bands.

While the MEM method is useful for understanding the nature of the foreground emission components, these results can not be directly used in CMB analyses due to the complex noise properties that result from the MEM process and its simultaneous use of multifrequency maps. This is because the multifrequency maps are smoothed, different weights are used in different regions of the sky and these weights are smoothed, all of which complicates the noise correlations. For the CMB analyses we use a mask to exclude pixels where the Galactic emission is strong, combined with template fitting (using external data only) where the foregrounds can be adequately corrected. This approach does not complicate the noise properties of the maps. The Kp2 cut is used for all analyses except for limits on non-Gaussianity and the temperature-polarization correlation function, where the more severe Kp0 cut is used.

Bennett et al. (2003c) describe the template fitting in detail. Thermal dust emission has been mapped over the full sky in several infrared bands, most notably by the COBE and IRAS missions. A full sky template is provided by Schlegel et al. (1998), and is extrapolated in frequency by Finkbeiner et al. (1999). The mostly synchrotron emission map of Haslam et al. (1981) at 408 MHz is used as a radio template. The free-free ionized gas is traced by the H$`\alpha `$ map assembled by Finkbeiner (2003) from the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM), the Virginia Tech Spectral-Line Survey (VTSS), and the Southern H-Alpha Sky Survey Atlas (SHASSA) (Dennison et al., 1998; Haffner et al., 2002; Reynolds et al., 2002; Gaustad et al., 2001). The Haslam map resolution is not as high as that of the WMAP maps, and the Haslam map has artifacts from experimental effects such as striping from spatial calibration variations. The striping in the Haslam map is along the survey scan lines and was corrected to first order by the application of a Wiener filter. (The filtered version of the Haslam map is publicly available on the LAMBDA web site.) The remaining adverse effects of the Haslam map are mitigated by two effects. First, the template fit calls only for a small Haslam correlation (see §6 of Bennett et al. (2003c)). Since the correction is small, the error on the correction is negligible. Second, the foreground contamination is most significant only on the largest angular scales so the Haslam resolution limit and small-scale map artifacts are not significant sources of error. The MEM solution only uses the Haslam map as a prior and the spinning dust limit only uses the full sky median of the Haslam map. Thus the spinning dust limit is insensitive to residual striping in the Haslam map.

The MEM results are used to assess the degree of foreground emission remaining after the template subtraction. The result is $`<7\mu `$K rms at Q-band and $`<3\mu `$K rms at both V-band and at W-band for $`l<15`$. This remaining foreground emission constitutes $`<2`$% of the CMB variance (up to $`l=200`$) in Q-band, and $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{<}{}`$1% of the CMB variance in V- and W-bands. Figures 3 and 4 of Hinshaw et al. (2003b) demonstrate that this small residual foreground level has a negligible effect on the cosmological results.

### 5.3 Point sources

A search was made for point sources in the WMAP data. A catalog of 208 detected sources (with 98% reliability) is provided by Bennett et al. (2003c). Statistically, five sources are expected to be false detections. Five of the 208 sources do not have low frequency radio counterparts; these sources are likely to be the false detections. We include $``$700 sources in our mask, despite having only detected $``$200 sources at the $`5\sigma `$ level, because sources below this detection level still contribute an undesirable statistical contamination to the maps. Even beyond masking the 700 sources, we still need to make a statistical correction to the power spectrum for residual source contamination (Hinshaw et al., 2003b). The derived source counts give a power spectrum level of $`C^{\mathrm{src}}=(15\pm 3)\times 10^3\mu `$K2sr at Q-band. This is consistent with the level found in the bispectrum analysis of the maps (Komatsu et al., 2003) and the level found in fits to the map power spectra (Hinshaw et al., 2003b). We have confidence that the point source level is understood since it is independently derived using three different methods.

### 5.4 Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect

Hot gas in clusters of galaxies imparts energy to the CMB photons, causing a temperature decrement in the WMAP bands (the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect). The Coma cluster is expected to have the most pronounced signature. For the highest resolution maps, Bennett et al. (2003c) get $`0.34\pm 0.18`$ mK in W-band and $`0.24\pm 0.18`$ mK in V-band in the direction of Coma. Use of the XBACS catalog of X-ray clusters as a template results in $`0.36\pm 0.14`$. This verifies that the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect is barely detectable in even a matched search of the WMAP sky maps and therefore it is not a significant “contaminant” to the WMAP data.

## 6 LIMITS ON NON-GAUSSIANITY

Maps of the sky are the most complete and compact representation of the CMB anisotropy. Cosmological analyses are based on statistical properties of the maps with the power spectrum as one of the most commonly derived statistics. The power spectrum is a complete representation of the data only if the CMB anisotropy is Gaussian. Also, the most common cosmological models predict that the CMB anisotropy should be consistent with a Gaussian random field (at least at levels that are currently possible to measure). Therefore, we test the Gaussianity of the anisotropy, both to interpret the power spectrum (and other statistical derivatives of the maps) and to test cosmological paradigms.

There is no single best test for Gaussianity. Specific tests can be more or less sensitive to different assumed forms of non-Gaussianity. Komatsu et al. (2003), in a companion paper, search for non-Gaussianity in the WMAP CMB anisotropy maps using Minkowski functionals and a bispectrum estimator.

Minkowski functionals (Minkowski, 1903; Gott et al., 1990) quantify topological aspects of the CMB maps. Anisotropy is examined via contours at different temperature levels, and the number and areas of regions enclosed by these contours are computed. Three Minkowski functionals are the area represented by hot and cold spots, the contour length around these areas, and the difference between the number of these areas (the “genus”).

It is widely believed that the CMB anisotropy arises from Gaussian linear fluctuations in the gravitational potential. Komatsu & Spergel (2001) suggest that non-Gaussian anisotropy be considered in terms of the curvature perturbation. The simplest expression for the overall primordial gravitational curvature perturbation, $`\mathrm{\Phi }(𝐱)`$, is a sum of a linear $`\mathrm{\Phi }_L(𝐱)`$ and weak nonlinear components: $`\mathrm{\Phi }(𝐱)=\mathrm{\Phi }_L(𝐱)+f_{NL}[\mathrm{\Phi }_L^2(𝐱)\mathrm{\Phi }_L(𝐱)^2]`$ where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_L`$ is the linear Gaussian portion of the curvature perturbation and $`f_{NL}`$ is a nonlinear coupling constant. Then, $`f_{NL}=0`$ corresponds to the purely linear Gaussian case. Since the CMB bispectrum measures the phase correlations of the anisotropy, it can be used to solve for $`f_{NL}`$. The Minkowski functional results can also be expressed in terms of $`f_{NL}`$.

For the Minkowski functionals, Komatsu et al. (2003) find $`f_{NL}<139`$ (95% CL). From the bispectrum, Komatsu et al. (2003) find $`58<f_{NL}<134`$ (95% CL). The two results are consistent. The CMB anisotropy is thus demonstrated to follow Gaussian statistics. This is a significant result for models of the early universe. It also means that we can construct and interpret CMB statistics (e.g. the angular power spectrum) from the maps in a straightforward manner.

## 7 MULTIPOLES

The temperature anisotropy, $`T(𝐧)`$, is naturally expanded in a spherical harmonic basis, $`Y_{lm}`$, as

$$T(𝐧)=\underset{l,m}{}a_{lm}Y_{lm}(𝐧).$$
(1)
The angular power spectrum, $`C_l`$, is a cosmological ensemble average given by

$$C_l=|a_{lm}|^2$$
(2)
and is observed for our actual sky as

$$C_l^{sky}=\frac{1}{2l+1}\underset{m}{}|a_{lm}|^2.$$
(3)
Assuming random phases, the temperature anisotropy for each multipole moment, $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_l`$, can be associated with the angular spectrum, $`C_l`$, as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }T_l=\sqrt{C_l^{sky}l(l+1)/2\pi }.$$
(4)
The correlation function is

$`C(\theta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{m=l}{\overset{+l}{}}}C_lP_l(cos\theta )`$ (5)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}(2l+1)C_lP_l(cos\theta )`$ (6)
where $`P_l`$ is the Legendre polynomial or order $`l`$.

In practice, an instrument adds noise and spatially filters the sky signal due to the beam pattern and any other experimental limitations on the sampling of all angular scales. The experimental transfer function, $`b_l`$, for each multipole moment depends upon the specific beam pattern of the experiment. WMAP samples all angular scales limited only by the beam pattern. The window function for the signal power between channels $`i`$ and $`j`$ is

$$w_l^{ij}=b_l^ib_l^jp_l^2,$$
(7)
where $`p_l^2`$ is the pixel window function. The angular power spectrum then becomes

$$C_l=C_l^{ij}b_l^ib_l^jp_l^2+N_l^i\delta _{ij}$$
(8)
where $`N_l^i`$ is the power spectrum noise that results from the instrument noise, which is assumed to be uncorrelated between channels $`i`$ and $`j`$.

Note that an auto-power spectrum has twice the noise variance as a cross-power spectrum with the corresponding noise in each map. This follows from the property of Gaussian noise that $`N_l^{i2}N_l^{j2}=2N_l^{i2}^2\delta _{ij}+N_l^{i2}N_l^{j2}`$, with $`N_l^iN_l^j^2=N_l^{i2}^2\delta _{ij}`$, and $`N_l^{i4}=3N_l^{i2}^2`$.

The use of a sky mask for foreground suppression breaks the orthogonality of the spherical harmonics on the sky and leads to mode coupling. Hinshaw et al. (2003b) discuss how WMAP handles this, and other complexities.

### 7.1 $`l=1`$ dipole

COBE determined the dipole amplitude is $`3.353\pm 0.024`$ mK in the direction $`(l,b)=(264.26^{}\pm 0.33^{},48.22^{}\pm 0.13^{})`$, where $`l`$ is Galactic longitude and $`b`$ is Galactic latitude (Bennett et al., 1996). This dipole was subtracted from the WMAP data during processing. Examination of the WMAP maps allow for the determination of a residual dipole, and thus an improvement over the COBE value. Note that this does not have any effect on WMAP calibration, which is based on the Earth’s velocity modulation of the dipole, and not on the dipole itself. The WMAP -determined dipole is $`3.346\pm 0.017`$ mK in the direction ($`l`$, $`b`$)$`=`$ ($`263\text{.}^{}85\pm 0\text{.}^{}1`$, $`48\text{.}^{}25\pm 0\text{.}^{}04`$). The uncertainty of the dipole amplitude is limited by the WMAP 0.5% calibration uncertainty, which will improve with time.

### 7.2 $`l=2`$ quadrupole

The quadrupole is the $`l=2`$ term of the spectrum $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_l^2=l(l+1)C_l/2\pi `$, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_{l=2}^2=(3/\pi )C_{l=2}`$. Alternately, the quadrupole amplitude can be expressed as $`Q_{rms}=\sqrt{(5/4\pi )C_{l=2}}=\sqrt{5/12}\mathrm{\Delta }T_{l=2}`$. The 4-year COBE quadrupole is $`Q_{rms}=10_4^{+7}\mu `$K with the peak of the likelihood in the range $`6.9\mu \mathrm{K}<Q_{rms}<10\mu `$K, as shown in Figure 1 of Hinshaw et al. (1996a).

The WMAP quadrupole, $`Q_{rms}=8\pm 2\mu `$K or $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_2^2=154\pm 70`$ $`\mu `$K2, is consistent with COBE but with tighter limits because of better measurements and understanding of foregrounds. We determine the quadrupole value by computing the power spectrum of the internal linear combination map and individual channel maps, with and without foreground corrections, for a range of Galactic cuts. The final $`l=2`$ value corresponds to a full sky estimate with an uncertainty that encompasses a range of foreground-masked or foreground-corrected solutions.” The foreground level is still the leading uncertainty. (The small kinematic quadrupole is not removed from the maps nor accounted for in this analysis.) The quadrupole value is low compared with values predicted by $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM models that fit the rest of the power spectrum. $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM models, in particular, tend to predict relatively high quadrupole values due to the enhanced, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-driven, integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect.

### 7.3 n-poles

A central part of the task of computing multipole information from the maps is the evaluation and propagation of errors and uncertainties. This largely involves arriving at an adequate representation of the Fisher matrix, which is the inverse covariance matrix of the data. The Fisher matrix must take into account mode-coupling from the sky cut, beam (window function) uncertainties, and noise properties. The fact that the WMAP data use a nearly azimuthally symmetric cut, and have a nearly diagonal pixel-pixel covariance, greatly simplifies the evaluation of the Fisher matrix.

Two approaches to computing the angular power spectrum have been used by Hinshaw et al. (2003b): a quadratic estimation based on Hivon et al. (2002); and a maximum likelihood estimate based on Oh et al. (1999). The quadratic estimator is used in the final WMAP spectrum analyses, while the maximum likelihood technique is used as a cross-check.

The K-band and Ka-band beam sizes are large enough that these bands are not used for CMB analysis since they have the most foreground contamination and probe the region in $`l`$-space that is cosmic variance limited by the measurements at the other bands. These bands are invaluable, however, as monitors of Galactic emission. The two Q-band, two V-band, and four W-band differencing assemblies are the source of the prime CMB data. The matrix of auto- and cross-correlations between the eight Q-, V-, and W-band differencing assemblies has eight diagonal (auto-correlations) and 28 unique off-diagonal elements (cross-correlations). Since auto-correlations are difficult to assess due to the noise bias (see equation 8), we included only the 28 unique off-diagonal (cross-correlations) in the WMAP power spectrum analysis. In dropping the auto-correlations, each of which has twice the noise variance of a cross-correlation, we lose only $`1\sqrt{56/(56+8)}=6`$% of the ideally achievable signal-to-noise ratio. In Hinshaw et al. (2003b), we show that the power spectrum computed from the auto-correlation data is consistent with the angular power spectrum from the cross-correlation data. We anticipate using the auto-correlation data in future analyses.

The cross-power spectrum from the 28 pairs is considered in four $`l`$ ranges. For $`l100`$ we use uniform pixel weighting of only V- and W-band data. This reduces the Galactic contamination where measurement errors are well below the cosmic variance. For $`100<l200`$ we use uniform pixel weighting of the combined 28 pairs. For $`200<l450`$ all 28 cross-power pairs are used with a transitional pixel weighting. The transitional pixel weighting, defined and discussed in detail in Appendix A of Hinshaw et al. (2003b), smoothly transitions the weighting from the uniform pixel weights in the signal-dominated $`l<200`$ multipole regime to inverse-noise-variance weighting in the noise-dominated $`l>450`$ multipole regime. For $`l>450`$ all 28 pairs are used with inverse noise weighting. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that this approach is a nearly optimal scheme.

The angular power spectrum is shown for the WMAP data in Figure 12. The WMAP power spectrum agrees closely with COBE at the largest angular scales, and with CBI and ACBAR at the finer angular scales. We highlight the CBI and ACBAR results because they are a useful complement to WMAP at the smaller angular scales. The acoustic pattern is obvious. Page et al. (2003b) find that the first acoustic peak is $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_l=74.7\pm 0.5\mu `$K at $`l=220.1\pm 0.8`$. The trough following this peak is $`41.0\pm 0.5\mu `$K at $`l=411.7\pm 3.5`$ and the second peak is $`48.8\pm 0.9\mu `$K at $`l=546\pm 10`$.

$`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM models predict enhanced large angle power due to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. The WMAP and COBE data, on the other hand, have the opposite trend. The conflict is also seen clearly in the correlation function, $`C(\theta )`$, shown in Figure 13. The WMAP correlation function is computed using the Kp0 cut on a combination of the Q-band, V-band, and W-band maps with the MEM Galactic model removed. The COBE correlation function is computed on the “custom cut” sky (Bennett et al., 1996). The best-fit $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model is shown with a grey band indicating one standard deviation as determined by Monte Carlo simulations.

The lower two plots in Figure 13 display the correlation function of the difference between the COBE-DMR and WMAP maps with a $`|b|=10^{}`$ Galactic plane cut. A synthesis of the WMAP Q- and V-band maps was made to approximate a 53 GHz map to compare with the COBE-DMR 53 GHz map. The COBE-DMR 90 GHz map is compared directly, without corrections, to the WMAP W-band map. These plots emphasize the consistency of the WMAP and COBE measurements. The slightly higher than expected deviations at 53 GHz are likely to be due to Galactic contamination, arising from outside the cut regions and from the construction of the synthesized WMAP 53 GHz map.

The model is an excellent fit to the WMAP full power spectrum except, perhaps, at $`l\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}6`$. Since only a small fraction of the total number of measured multipoles are involved, the statistical contribution of the $`l\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}6`$ points to the overall power spectrum fit is small and does not greatly drive the overall best-fit model. The correlation function emphasizes the low $`l`$ signal because these modes contribute to $`C(\theta )`$ at all angular separations. The discrepancy at $`\theta \genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}30^{}`$ reflects the average lack of power in the data relative to the model at $`l<6`$. More significantly, the lack of power at $`\theta \genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}60^{}`$ relative to the model reflects the special shape of the power spectrum from $`2<l<5`$ seen in both the WMAP (and COBE) maps. This result is generically true for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM models, independent of the exact parameters of the model. There is very little large scale CMB anisotropy power in our sky. This fact, first seen by COBE is confirmed by WMAP. The probability of so little $`C(\theta >60^{})`$ anisotropy power is $`2\times 10^3`$, given the best-fit $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model. The lack of power is seen both in $`C(\theta )`$ and the behavior of the low order ($`l=2,3,4,\mathrm{and}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}5}`$) multipoles.

## 8 CMB POLARIZATION & THE DETECTION OF REIONIZATION

Each differencing assembly measures the sky in two orthogonal linear polarizations. As the Observatory spins, precesses, and orbits the Sun, the instrument observes the sky over a range of polarization angles. The range of angles observed is neither complete nor uniform, but it is sufficient to provide valuable new CMB polarization results.

We express polarization in term of the standard $`I`$, $`Q`$, and $`U`$ Stokes parameters, in units of thermodynamic temperature. Polarization coordinates are not rotationally invariant so a coordinate system is defined by Kogut et al. (2003) for expressing information. By appropriate summing and differencing of the time-ordered-data from the pairs of corresponding radiometers, we iteratively make maps in unpolarized intensity, $`I`$, and in each polarized component, $`Q`$ and $`U`$ (Hinshaw et al., 2003b). The $`Q`$ and $`U`$ maps not only have much lower signal-to-noise than the $`I`$ maps, but they are more susceptible to systematic errors since the differencing between radiometer outputs occurs on the ground, not in the front-end of the radiometers.

The $`U`$ polarization maps are expected to be most affected by systematic errors. This is due to the orientation of the observed polarization angles relative to the spin axis of the Observatory, causing systematics not fixed on the sky to preferentially go into the $`U`$ map.

Taurus A, an extremely strong source in the WMAP bands, is polarized and its polarization amplitude and direction are known (Flett & Henderson, 1979). Polarization measurements from WMAP are consistent with previous observations of Taurus A, providing a useful check on the operation of the WMAP hardware and software. However, the polarization systematic errors have not yet been fully quantified. We chose to release the $`I`$ data and results as soon as possible, rather than postpone their publication and release until the systematic measurement errors of the $`Q`$ and $`U`$ data are fully assessed. All data, including the $`Q`$ and $`U`$ maps will be released when the characterization of their instrumental signatures are complete. The dominant systematic effect in the low signal-to-noise polarization data arises from correlated noise in the radiometers. By using only cross correlations of temperature maps with polarization maps, generated from independent radiometer combinations that have uncorrelated noise, we mitigate the leading systematic error. For this reason, results of temperature-polarization correlations between the $`I`$ and $`Q`$ maps, i.e. TE correlations, are much less sensitive to systematic effects than polarization signals alone, so we are able to report those results.

Figure 12 shows the temperature-polarization (TE) cross power spectrum. Kogut et al. (2003) report a detection of TE correlations on both large angular scales (from reionization) and on small scales (from the adiabatic fluctuations). The TE power spectrum, shown in Figure 12, is discussed in detail by Kogut et al. (2003). In the TE angular power spectrum the antipeak is $`35\pm 9\mu `$K2 at $`l=137\pm 9`$ and the peak is $`105\pm 18\mu `$K2 at $`l=329\pm 19`$ (Page et al., 2003b).

The detection of the reionization of the universe corresponds to an optical depth $`\tau =0.17\pm 0.04`$ ($`0.09\tau 0.28`$ at 95% confidence). Although WMAP measures the integrated optical depth, the epoch and redshift of reionization can be derived from the integral optical depth within the context of a model of the reionization process. A single instantaneous step function in the ionization fraction from zero to a steady fixed value is physically unlikely. For more likely models, Kogut et al. (2003) conclude that the redshift of reionization is $`z_r=20_9^{+10}`$ (95% CL), corresponding to an epoch of reionization of $`t_r=180_{80}^{+220}`$ Myr (95% CL) after the Big Bang. Cen (2002) presents a detailed model of a reionization process and predicts an integral value of the optical depth, $`\tau =0.10\pm 0.03`$. This is low compared with the newly measured value, but would be higher and consistent if the assumed cosmological parameters in the model were adjusted to the values of the new WMAP best-fit parameters (see §9.1).

The measured optical depth means that reionization suppressed the acoustic peak amplitudes by $`1e^{2\tau }30`$%. While accounted for in our model fits (§9, below), this suppression was not accounted for in previous CMB parameter determinations. The anticorrelations observed in the TE power spectrum directly imply superhorizon fluctuations, a new result in support of inflation-like theories, as discussed in §9.3.

## 9 COSMOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION

In this section we summarize the cosmological intepretation of WMAP first year results, which are discussed in more detail by Spergel et al. (2003), Peiris et al. (2003), Page et al. (2003b), and Kogut et al. (2003). The methodology used in the model fits is described by Verde et al. (2003).

Spergel et al. (2003) show that a cosmological model with a flat universe, seeded with a scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic Gaussian fluctuations, with reionization, is an acceptable fit not only to the WMAP data but also to a host of astronomical data. These data are: smaller angular scale CMB anisotropy data from ACBAR (Kuo et al., 2002) and CBI (Pearson et al., 2002); the HST key project value of $`H_0`$ (Freedman et al., 2001); the accelerating Universe seen in Type Ia SNe (Riess et al., 2001); the shape and amplitude of the large scale structure seen in clusters and superclusters of galaxies (Percival et al., 2001; Verde et al., 2003); and the linear matter power spectrum seen in the Lyman $`\alpha `$ forest (Croft et al., 2002). There has been mounting evidence in the direction of this model for years (Peebles, 1984; Bahcall et al., 1999). The optical depth since reionization is a new, but not surprising component of the model. The WMAP data establish this model as the standard model of cosmology by testing the key assumptions of the model and by enabling a precise determination of its parameters.

The WMAP data test several of the key tenets of the standard model. The WMAP detection of temperature-polarization correlations (Kogut et al., 2003) and the clear detection of acoustic peaks (Page et al., 2003b) implies that the primordial fluctuations were primarily adiabatic: the primordial ratio of dark matter/photons and the primordial ratio of baryons/photons do not vary spatially. The analysis of the WMAP temperature data demonstrates Gaussianity (Komatsu et al., 2003). The WMAP data, when combined with any one of the following three external data sets: HST Key Project measurement of $`H_0`$ (Freedman et al., 2001), the 2dFGRS measurement of the matter density (Percival et al., 2001; Verde et al., 2003) or the Type Ia supernova measurements (Riess et al., 2001) imply that the radius of curvature of the universe, $`R=cH_0^1|1\mathrm{\Omega }_{tot}|^{1/2}`$, must be very large, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{tot}=1.02\pm 0.02\text{ }`$ and $`0.99<\mathrm{\Omega }_{tot}<1.05\text{ }(95\%\text{ CL})`$. These measurements also require that the dark energy be the dominant constituent of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{tot}`$. The WMAP data alone rule out the standard $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=1`$ CDM model by $`>7\sigma `$.

### 9.1 Best Fit Cosmological Model

While an acceptable fit, the model described above is not our best fit model. In the discussion below we concentrate on our best fit model, which adds a scale-dependent primordial spectral index. This cosmological model is a flat universe with a baryon fraction of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b=0.044\pm 0.004`$, a matter fraction of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.27\pm 0.04`$, and a dark energy fraction of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.73\pm 0.04`$, seeded with a scale-dependent spectrum of adiabatic Gaussian fluctuations. This model has $`C_{l=10}=46.0`$ $`\mu `$K2, consistent with the COBE measurement of $`C_{l=10}=44.4`$ $`\mu `$K2.

The WMAP data alone enable accurate determinations of many of the key cosmological parameters (Spergel et al., 2003). But a combination of the WMAP data with the COBE determination of the CMB temperature (Mather et al., 1999), the CBI (Pearson et al., 2002) and the ACBAR (Kuo et al., 2002) CMB measurements, and the 2dFGRS survey determination of the power spectrum of the local galaxy fluctuations (Percival et al., 2001), yields the best fit cosmological parameters listed in Table 3. Verde et al. (2003) describes our methodology for determining these parameters and Spergel et al. (2003) describes the best fit models for different combinations of data sets.

A power spectrum of primordial mass fluctuations with a scale invariant spectral index is given by $`P(k)=Ak^{n_s}`$ with $`n_s=d\mathrm{ln}P/d\mathrm{ln}k`$. Inflationary models predict a running spectral index (Kosowsky & Turner, 1995), and our best fit model uses a power spectrum of primordial mass fluctuations with a scale-dependent spectral index:

$$P(k)=P(k_0)\left(\frac{k}{k_0}\right)^{n_s(k_0)+(1/2)(dn_s/d\mathrm{ln}k)\mathrm{ln}(k/k_0)}.$$
(9)
As in the scale-independent case, we define

$$n_s(k)\frac{d\mathrm{ln}P}{d\mathrm{ln}k},$$
(10)
so

$$n_s(k)=n_s(k_0)+\frac{dn_s}{d\mathrm{ln}k}\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{k}{k_0}\right)$$
(11)
(with $`d^2n_s/d\mathrm{ln}k^2=0`$). The definition for $`n_s`$ used here includes a factor of $`(1/2)`$ difference from the Kosowsky & Turner (1995) definition. Peiris et al. (2003) explore the implications of this running spectral index for inflation. The best fit values of $`A`$, $`n_s`$ and $`dn_s/d\mathrm{ln}k`$ are in Table 3 for $`k_0=0.05`$ Mpc-1. $`A`$ is the normalization parameter in CMBFAST version 4.1 with option UNNORM. The amplitude of curvature fluctuations at the horizon crossing is $`\left|\mathrm{\Delta }_R(k_0)\right|^2=2.95\times 10^9A`$. We discuss the implications of the measured values of these parameters in §9.3 and in Peiris et al. (2003).

The WMAP data constrains the properties of both the dark matter and the dark energy in the following ways:

1. The WMAP detection of reionization at $`z20`$ is incompatible with the presence of significant warm dark matter density. Since the warm dark matter moves too fast to cluster in small objects, the first objects do not form in this scenario until $`z8`$ (Barkana et al., 2001).
2. The running spectral index implies a lower amplitude for mass fluctuations on the dwarf galaxy scale. Dark matter simulations of models (Ricotti, 2002) find that the dark matter mass profiles depend upon the spectral index on the relevant mass scale. Thus, the shallower spectral index implied by our best fit model may solve the CDM dark matter halo profile problem (Moore et al., 1998; Spergel & Steinhardt, 2000).
3. While the WMAP data alone are compatible with a wide range of possible properties for the dark energy, the combination of the WMAP data with either the HST key project measurement of $`H_0`$, the 2dFGRS measurements of the galaxy power spectrum or the Type Ia supernova measurements requires that the dark energy be 73% of the total density of the Universe, and that the equation of state of the dark energy satisfy $`w<0.78(95\%\text{ CL})`$.

### 9.2 Best Fit Parameters

WMAP’s measurements of the baryon density, Hubble constant, and age of the universe strengthen the cosmic consistency that underlies the Big Bang model.

ATOMIC DENSITY ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_bh^2`$): WMAP measures the atomic density at recombination to an accuracy of 4% through the shape of the angular power spectrum, and particularly through the ratio of the heights of the first to second peak (Page et al., 2003b; Spergel et al., 2003). Our best fit value is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_bh^2=0.0224\pm 0.0009`$. The baryon density is also probed via abundance measurements of \[D\]/\[H\] (O’Meara et al., 2001; Pettini & Bowen, 2001; D’Odorico et al., 2001). It is impressive that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_bh^2`$ is the same at $`z=1089`$ as measured via the CMB as it is at $`z=10^9`$ from Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Thus we find cosmic consistency of the baryon density throughout cosmic time and measurement technique.

HUBBLE CONSTANT ($`H_0`$): The WMAP measurements of the age and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_mh^2`$ yield a measurement of $`H_0=71_3^{+4}`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 that is remarkably consistent with the HST Key Project value of $`H_0=72\pm 3\pm 7`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 (Freedman et al., 2001), but with smaller uncertainty. Recent measurements of the Hubble constant from gravitational lens timing and the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect yield independent estimates that are generally consistent, but with larger uncertainties at present. Through a variety of measurement techniques that sample different cosmic times and distances we find cosmic consistency on $`H_0`$.

AGE OF THE UNIVERSE ($`t_0`$): The first acoustic peak in the CMB power spectrum represents a known acoustic size ($`r_s=147\pm 2\text{ Mpc}`$) at a known redshift ($`z_{dec}=1089\pm 1`$). From these, WMAP measures the age of the universe ($`t_0=13.7\pm 0.2\text{ Gyr}`$) to an accuracy of $`1`$% by determining the CMB light travel time over the distance determined by the decoupling surface ($`d_A=14.0_{0.3}^{+0.2}\text{ Gpc}`$) and the geometry of the universe (i.e., flat). The age of the universe is also estimated via stars in three ways:

1. the main sequence turn-off in globular clusters yielding a cluster age of $`12\pm 1`$ Gyr (Reid, 1997);
2. the temperature of the coldest white dwarfs in globular clusters yielding a cluster age of $`12.7\pm 0.7`$ Gyr (Hansen et al., 2002), and
3. nucleosynthesis age dating yielding an age of $`15.6\pm 4.6`$ Gyr (Cowan et al., 1999).

These stellar ages are all consistent with age of the universe found by WMAP.

MATTER DENSITY ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_mh^2`$): The matter density affects the height and shape of the acoustic peaks. The baryon-to-matter ratio determines the amplitude of the acoustic wave signal and the matter-to-radiation ratio determines the epoch, $`z_{eq}`$, when the energy density of matter equals the energy density of radiation. The amplitude of the early integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect signal is sensitive to the matter-radiation equality epoch. From these effects WMAP measures the matter density, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_mh^2`$,to an accuracy of $`5`$%. Large scale structure observations measure $`\mathrm{\Omega }_mh`$ through the shape of the power spectrum. When combined with estimates of $`h`$, this yields $`\mathrm{\Omega }_mh^2`$. Large scale velocity field measurements yield $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m^{0.6}b^1`$, where $`b`$ is the bias in how the galaxy power spectrum traces the matter power spectrum ($`P_{\mathrm{gal}}=b^2P(k)`$). Galaxy bispectrum measurements yield $`b`$, allowing for estimates of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m`$. From the galaxy data, Verde et al. (2002) find $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.27\pm 0.06`$, which is consistent with the WMAP result of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.27\pm 0.04`$.

Cluster lensing observations yield measurements of the total mass in the cluster. X-ray measurements give both the baryonic mass and the total mass through the gravitational potential. Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect observations give a different determination of the baryonic mass in clusters. The combined X-ray and SZ measurements give a value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b\mathrm{\Omega }_m^1=0.081_{0.011}^{+0.009}h^1`$ (Grego et al., 2001), which is reasonably consistent with $`0.17\pm 0.01`$ from WMAP.

### 9.3 Implications for Inflation

WMAP data tests several of the key predictions of the inflationary scenario (see Peiris et al. (2003) for further discussion):

1. Inflation predicts that the universe is flat. As noted in §9.1 and discussed in detail in Spergel et al. (2003), the combination of WMAP data with either $`H_0`$, Type Ia SNe, or large scale structure data constrains $`|1\mathrm{\Omega }_{tot}|<0.03`$.
2. Inflation predicts Gaussian random phase fluctuations. Komatsu et al. (2003) shows that the CMB fluctuations have no detectable skewness and place strong constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity. Komatsu et al. (2003) also shows that the Minkowski functionals of the WMAP data are consistent with the predictions of a model with Gaussian random phase fluctuations.
3. Inflation predicts fluctuations on scales that appear to be superhorizon scales in a Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology. The WMAP detection of an anti-correlation between polarization and temperature fluctuations on scales of $`1^{}2^{}`$ (Kogut et al., 2003) confirms this prediction and rules out subhorizon causal mechanisms for generating CMB fluctuations (Peiris et al., 2003).
4. Inflation predicts a nearly scale invariant spectrum of fluctuations, as seen by WMAP.

The WMAP data, in combination with complementary cosmological data, not only test the basic ideas of the inflationary scenario but also rule out broad classes of inflationary models, and therefore the data guide us towards a specific workable inflationary scenario. The WMAP data place significant constraints on $`r`$, the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $`n_s`$, the slope of the scalar fluctuations and $`dn_s/d\mathrm{ln}k`$, the scale dependence of these fluctuations. The addition of an admixture of isocurvature modes does not improve the WMAP model fits.

The best fit model to the combination of the WMAP, ACBAR, CBI, 2dFGRS and the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ forest data has a spectral index that runs from $`n>1`$ on the large scales probed by WMAP to $`n<1`$ on the small scales probed by the 2dFGRS and the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ forest data. Only a handful of inflationary models predict this behavior. The Linde & Riotto (1997) hybrid inflationary model is one example. The data, however, do not yet require $`n>1`$ on large scales: our best fit model has $`n_s=1.03\pm 0.04`$ at $`k=0.002`$ Mpc-1.

Our analysis of inflationary models (Peiris et al., 2003) marks the beginning of precision experimental tests of specific inflationary models. With the addition of on-going WMAP observations and future improved analyses, WMAP will be able to more accurately constrain $`\tau `$ and hence $`n_s`$ on large scales. When other CMB experiments are calibrated directly to the WMAP sky maps, they will provide improved measurements of the temperature angular power spectrum for $`l>700`$. The upcoming release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) power spectrum will provide an improved measurement of the galaxy power spectrum. The SDSS Lyman-$`\alpha `$ forest data are expected to be a significant improvement over the data used in our current analysis. Looking further towards the future, ESA’s Planck mission will provide improved measurements on the CMB angular power spectrum on smaller angular scales and should be able to improve constraints on $`r`$.

## 10 DATA PRODUCTS

All of the WMAP data will be released. In addition, several ancillary and analyzed data sets are released. These include beam patterns, angular spectra, etc. Some software tools are also provided. An Explanatory Supplement provides detailed information about the WMAP in-flight operations and data products (Limon et al., 2003). All WMAP data products are distributed through the Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA) at http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov. This is a new NASA data center dedicated to the rapidly growing field of microwave background data archiving and analysis.

## 11 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

(1) WMAP has produced high quality full sky maps in five widely separated frequency bands. These maps can be used to test cosmological models and serve as the primary legacy of the mission.

(2) We have characterized and placed stringent limits on systematic measurement errors. The calibration is based on the modulation of the CMB dipole, and is accurate to better than 0.5%.

(3) We have demonstrated the ability to separate the CMB anisotropy from Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds. We provide masks for this purpose. In addition, we have produced CMB maps where the Galactic signal is minimized.

(4) We have a new determination of the dipole. It is $`3.346\pm 0.017`$ mK in the direction ($`l`$, $`b`$)$`=`$ ($`263\text{.}^{}85\pm 0\text{.}^{}1`$, $`48\text{.}^{}25\pm 0\text{.}^{}04`$).

(5) We have a new determination of the quadrupole amplitude. It is $`Q_{rms}=8\pm 2\mu `$K or $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_2^2=154\pm 70`$ $`\mu `$K2.

(6) We have placed tight new limits on non-Gaussianity of the CMB anisotropy. The coupling coefficient of a quadratic non-Gaussian term is limited to $`58<f_{NL}<134`$ (95% CL) (Komatsu et al., 2003).

(7) We have produced an angular power spectrum of the anisotropy with unprecedented accuracy and precision. The power spectrum is cosmic variance limited for $`l<354`$ with a signal-to-noise ratio $`>1`$ per mode to $`l=658`$.

(8) We have, for the first time, observed the angular power spectrum of TE temperature-polarization correlations with sufficient accuracy and precision to place meaningful limits on cosmology.

(9) We have detected the epoch of reionization with an optical depth of $`\tau =0.17\pm 0.04`$. This implies a reionization epoch of $`t_r=180_{80}^{+220}`$ Myr (95% CL) after the Big Bang at a redshift of $`z_r=20_9^{+10}`$ (95% CL) for a range of ionization scenarios. This early reionization is incompatible with the presence of a significant warm dark matter density.

(10) We have fit cosmological parameters to the data. We find results that are consistent with the Big Bang theory and inflation. We find that the addition of a running spectral index, while not required, improves the fit at the $`2\sigma `$ level. We provide values and uncertainties for a host of parameters based on this non-power-law inflationary model. Our “best” values for cosmic parameters are given in Table 3.

(11) WMAP continues to collect data and is currently approved for 4 years of operations at L2. The additional data, and more elaborate analyses, will help to further constrain models. The addition of other continuously improving CMB and large scale structure observations is essential for progress towards the ultimate goal of a complete understanding of the global properties of the universe.

The WMAP mission is made possible by the support of the Office of Space Sciences at NASA Headquarters and by the hard and capable work of scores of scientists, engineers, technicians, machinists, data analysts, budget analysts, managers, administrative staff, and reviewers. We are grateful to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which designed and produced the HEMT amplifiers that made WMAP possible. We are grateful to A. Riess for providing the likelihood surfaces for the supernova data. D. Finkbeiner supplied us with his full sky composite map of H$`\alpha `$ emission in advance of publication. LV is supported by NASA through a Chandra Fellowship issued by the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ML and GT are supported by the National Research Council.