English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

In a recent preprint ("CCC-predicted low-variance circles in the CMB sky andLCDM"), Gurzadyan and Penrose (2011) claim for the second time to find evidencefor pre-Big Bang activity in the form of concentric circles of low variance inthe WMAP data. The same claim was made in November 2010, but quickly shown tobe false by three independent groups. The culprit was simply that Gurzadyan andPenrose's simulations were based on an inappropriate power spectrum. In themost recent paper, they now claim that the significance is indeed low if thesimulations are based on the realization-specific WMAP spectrum (ie., the onedirectly measured from the sky maps and affected by cosmic variance), but notif the simulations are based on a theoretical LCDM spectrum. In this respect,we note that the three independent reanalyses all based their simulations onthe LCDM spectrum, not the observed WMAP spectrum, and this alone shouldsuffice to show that the updated claims are also incorrect. In fact, it isevident from the plots shown in their new paper that the spectrum is stillincorrect, although in a different way than in their first paper. Thus,Gurzadyan and Penrose's new claims are just as wrong as those made in the firstpaper, and for the same reason: The simulations are not based on an appropriatepower spectrum. Still, while this story is of little physical interest, it mayhave some important implications in terms of scienctific sociology: Lookingback at the background papers leading up to the present series by Gurzadyan andPenrose, in particular one introducing the Kolmogorov statistic, we believe onecan find evidence that a community based and open access referee process may bemore efficient at rejecting incorrect results and claims than a traditionaljournal based approach.

Comment on "CCC-predicted low-variance circles in CMB sky and LCDM"