Measuring the Curvature of the Universe

Abstract

We discuss how the curvature of the universe can be robustly measured employing only the gross features of the CMB anisotropy spectrum. Though the position of the first peak is not robust, uncertainties in the model for structure formation can be removed by using the spacing of the acoustic peaks and the location of the damping tail. Combined these provide important consistency tests that can be used to discriminate against a truly exotic model.

5pg. including figures, REVTeX, to appear in Proceedings of the XXXIth Moriond meeting, also available at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~whu/papers.html