Angular correlation of the cosmic microwave background in the Rh = ct Universe

Context. The emergence of several unexpected large-scale features in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) has pointed to possible new physics driving the origin of density fluctuations in the early Universe and their evolution into the large-scale structure we see today. Aims. In this paper, we focus our attention on the possible absence of angular correlation in the CMB anisotropies at angles larger than similar to 60 degrees, and consider whether this feature may be the signature of fluctuations expected in the R-h = ct Universe. Methods. We calculate the CMB angular correlation function for a fluctuation spectrum expected from growth in a Universe whose dynamics is constrained by the equation-of-state p = -rho/3, where p and rho are the total pressure and density, respectively. Results. We find that, though the disparity between the predictions of Lambda CDM and the WMAP sky may be due to cosmic variance, it may also be due to an absence of inflation. The classic horizon problem does not exist in the R-h = ct Universe, so a period of exponential growth was not necessary in this cosmology in order to account for the general uniformity of the CMB (save for the aforementioned tiny fluctuations of 1 part in 100 000 in the WMAP relic signal). Conclusions. We show that the R-h = ct Universe without inflation can account for the apparent absence in CMB angular correlation at angles theta greater than or similar to 60 degrees without invoking cosmic variance, providing additional motivation for pursuing this cosmology as a viable description of nature.