Cosmic microwave background anisotropy

Abstract

Current hypotheses for the origin of structure in the Universe lead to predictions of the amplitudes of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation. The dipole anisotropy is related to density fluctuations on large scales and to other determinations of our motion relative to distant galaxies. Observation and theory are coming tantalizingly close to measuring the elusive anisotropy, or to revealing that our ideas about the origin of galaxies and large-scale structures are in need of substantial revision.