Tentative Appraisal of Compatibility of Small-Scale CMB Anisotropy Detections in the Context of COBE-DMR-Normalized Open and Flat $Λ$ CDM Cosmogonies

Abstract

Goodness-of-fit statistics are used to quantitatively establish the compatibility of CMB anisotropy predictions in a wide range of DMR-normalized, open and spatially-flat $Λ$, CDM cosmogonies with the set of all presently available small-scale CMB anisotropy detection data. Conclusions regarding model viability depend sensitively on the prescription used to account for the 1$σ$ uncertainty in the assumed value of the DMR normalization, except for low-density, $Ω_0 \sim 0.3$ -- 0.4, open models which are compatible with the data for all prescriptions used. While large baryon-density ($Ω_B \gap 0.0175 h^{-2}$), old ($t_0 \gap 15$ -- 16 Gyr), low-density ($Ω_0 \sim 0.2$ -- 0.4), flat-$Λ$ models might be incompatible, no model is incompatible with the data for all prescriptions. In fact, some open models seem to fit the data better than should be expected, and this might be an indication that some error bars are mildly overconservative.

15 page PostScript file, including 6 included figures. Also available via anonymous ftp from ftp://astro.caltech.edu/users/kmg/chi.ps