The Infrared And Submillimetre Sky After Cobe (nato Science Series C:)

The book discusses the preliminary results of the COBE satellite (Cosmic Background Explorer). First, the three instruments on board COBE: FIRAS (Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer), DMR (Differential Microwave Radiometer), DIRBE (Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment), and the data acquisition and reduction techniques, are described by members of the COBE Science Team. Most of the subsequent material is devoted to the cosmological implications of the observations. The topics covered are: the Early universe: Planck era, inflation, dark matter, relic particles, etc. large and small scale anisotropies of the CMB large-scale structures and galaxy formation infrared to submillimetre background dust in galaxies and quasars instrumentation and observation techniques Scientists of different communities, from particle physics to observational astrophysics, have been enabled to share their convictions and their doubts about the `excess of perfection' of the relic Cosmic Radiation. Only such opportunities will allow us to make progress in the understanding of our Universe. Front Matter....Pages i-xxii An Overview of the Cosmic Background Explorer ( COBE ) and its Observations: New Sky Maps of the Early Universe....Pages 1-14 Strings, Gravity, and the Constants of Nature....Pages 15-33 First-Order Inflation....Pages 35-74 Inflation, Great Attractor and Anisotropies of the Relic Radiation....Pages 75-85 String Theory in Cosmology....Pages 87-99 Cosmic Strings: An Introduction to their Formation, Evolution, and their Microwave Background Signature....Pages 101-127 The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation....Pages 129-141 The Spectral Distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, LEP and Heavy Neutrinos....Pages 143-173 Dark Matter Candidates and Methods for Detecting them....Pages 175-188 Fluctuations and Anisotropies in Integrated Backgrounds....Pages 189-200 The thermal history of the cosmological gas....Pages 201-211 Sources of Cosmic Infrared-Submillimetre Background Radiation....Pages 213-230 Preliminary Results from the Firas and Dirbe Experiments on Cobe....Pages 231-248 Submm Emission from Galaxies and Quasars....Pages 249-262 Infrared Emission from the Galaxy....Pages 263-289 Linear and Non-Linear Gravitational Effects on the CMB Anisotropy....Pages 291-301 Statistics of the CMB Maps....Pages 303-314 CMB and Galactic Maps in the Millimetric Region....Pages 315-330 COBE DMR Results and Implications....Pages 331-344 Cosmic Background Anisotropies in the Millimetric Region....Pages 345-384 Upper Limits on the CMB Variation from 1300μm Observations....Pages 385-390 Mapping the Sky with the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers....Pages 391-408 Fundamental and Practical Limits to the Sensitivity of Submillimeter Astronomical Observations....Pages 409-421 Observations at (sub)millimetre wavelengths: effect of atmosphere and telescope sidelobes....Pages 423-443 Early Measurements of the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background)....Pages 445-448 Summary of Meeting....Pages 449-461 Back Matter....Pages 463-466 Discusses the preliminary results of the COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) satellite. Following a desciption of the instruments aboard COBE (FIRAS, DMR and DIRBE), the book explores the cosmological implications of their observations Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Les Houches, France, March 20-30, 1991