Inhomogeneities in the microwave background radiation interpreted within the framework of the quasi-steady state cosmology

Abstract

We calculate the expected angular power spectrum of the temperature fluctuations in the microwave background radiation (MBR) generated in the quasi-steady state cosmology (QSSC). The paper begins with a brief description of how the background is produced and thermalized in the QSSC. We then discuss within the framework of a simple model the likely sources of fluctuations in the background due to astrophysical and cosmological causes. Power spectrum peaks at l≈6-10, 180-220, and 600-900 are shown to be respectively related in this cosmology to curvature effects at the last minimum of the scale factor, clusters, and groups of galaxies. The effect of clusters is shown to be related to their distribution in space as indicated by a toy model of structure formation in the QSSC. We derive and parameterize the angular power spectrum using six parameters related to the sources of temperature fluctuations at three characteristic scales. We are able to obtain a satisfactory fit to the observational band power estimates of the MBR temperature fluctuation spectrum. Moreover, the values of the 'best-fit' parameters are consistent with the range of expected values.