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Peter Woit called attention to the liklihood that new WMAP data will be coming out soon
for some additional detail here is a post from Anthony Lewis (Cambridge)
http://cosmocoffee.info/viewtopic.php?p=1391#1391He says that around 23 March there will be one or more conference talks about the Three Year WMAP data. Spergel is one of the principals in WMAP and he is scheduled to give a talk
D. N. Spergel et al. "Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Implications for Cosmology"
so presumably the data will have to be released by that time.
=================
the last big batch of CMB cosmology data was Bennett et al (2003).
It has been a long time and some people seem to be quite impatient.
The parameter people seem most interested in is Omega and the Bennett 2003 estimate was 1.02 +/- 0.02
this includes the spatially flat case (exactly 1) and also includes the case where space has a slight positive curvature and is presumably finite. (although time is not bounded)
If they could reduce the error-bar and keep the same 1.02, it would send out philosophical shockwaves. For instance if the new data said that Omega is 1.02 +/- 0.01
then it would send out the notion that the universe is not spatially flat but is very slightly positive curved, and that it is spatially finite
and that it will nevertheless keep expanding (at an accelerating rate).
===============
I can't guess anything about the new data, but different results could have impact on people's picture of the universe, and also remember the new data could be exactly the same as the old data and there could be no interesing change too. But the possibilities are just interesting enough so one should keep alert to the forthcoming batch of new data on the CMB
=================
to check out the old data
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/mr_wmapdata.html
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/pub_papers/firstyear.html
here is a good one:
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/
even better:
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/current/
their summary of cosmological parameters
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/current/wmap_parameters.cfm
for some additional detail here is a post from Anthony Lewis (Cambridge)
http://cosmocoffee.info/viewtopic.php?p=1391#1391He says that around 23 March there will be one or more conference talks about the Three Year WMAP data. Spergel is one of the principals in WMAP and he is scheduled to give a talk
D. N. Spergel et al. "Three-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Implications for Cosmology"
so presumably the data will have to be released by that time.
=================
the last big batch of CMB cosmology data was Bennett et al (2003).
It has been a long time and some people seem to be quite impatient.
The parameter people seem most interested in is Omega and the Bennett 2003 estimate was 1.02 +/- 0.02
this includes the spatially flat case (exactly 1) and also includes the case where space has a slight positive curvature and is presumably finite. (although time is not bounded)
If they could reduce the error-bar and keep the same 1.02, it would send out philosophical shockwaves. For instance if the new data said that Omega is 1.02 +/- 0.01
then it would send out the notion that the universe is not spatially flat but is very slightly positive curved, and that it is spatially finite
and that it will nevertheless keep expanding (at an accelerating rate).
===============
I can't guess anything about the new data, but different results could have impact on people's picture of the universe, and also remember the new data could be exactly the same as the old data and there could be no interesing change too. But the possibilities are just interesting enough so one should keep alert to the forthcoming batch of new data on the CMB
=================
to check out the old data
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/mr_wmapdata.html
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/pub_papers/firstyear.html
here is a good one:
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/
even better:
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/current/
their summary of cosmological parameters
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/current/wmap_parameters.cfm
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