The combination of seven-year data from WMAP and improved astrophysical data rigorously tests the standard cosmological model and places new constraints on its basic parameters and extensions. By combining the WMAP data with the latest distance measurements from the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the distribution of galaxies and the Hubble constant (H 0 ) measurement, we determine the parameters of the simplest six-parameter ΛCDM model. The power-law index of the primordial power spectrum is n s = 0.968 ± 0.012 (68% CL) for this data combination, a measurement that excludes the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles spectrum by 99.5% CL. The other parameters, including those beyond the minimal set, are also consistent with, and improved from, the five-year results. We find no convincing deviations from the minimal model. The seven-year temperature power spectrum gives a better determination of the third acoustic peak, which results in a better determination of the redshift of the matter-radiation equality epoch. Notable examples of improved parameters are the total mass of neutrinos, m ν < 0.58 eV (95% CL), and the effective number of neutrino species, N eff = 4.34 +0.86 −0.88 (68% CL), which benefit from better determinations of the third peak and H 0 . The limit on a constant dark energy equation of state parameter from WMAP+BAO+H 0 , without high-redshift Type Ia supernovae, is w = −1.10 ± 0.14 (68% CL). We detect the effect of primordial helium on the temperature power spectrum and provide a new test of big bang nucleosynthesis by measuring Y p = 0.326 ± 0.075 (68% CL). We detect, and show on the map for the first time, the tangential and radial polarization patterns around hot and cold spots of temperature fluctuations, an important test of physical processes at z = 1090 and the dominance of adiabatic scalar fluctuations. The seven-year polarization data have significantly improved: we now detect the temperature-E-mode polarization cross power spectrum at 21σ , compared with 13σ from the five-year data. With the seven-year temperature-B-mode cross power spectrum, the limit on a rotation of the polarization plane due to potential parity-violating effects has improved by 38% to Δα = −1.• 1 ± 1.• 4(statistical) ± 1.• 5(systematic) (68% CL). We report significant detections of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect at the locations of known clusters of galaxies. The measured SZ signal agrees well with the expected signal from the X-ray data on a cluster-by-cluster basis. However, it is a factor of 0.5-0.7 times the predictions from "universal profile" of Arnaud et al., analytical models, and hydrodynamical simulations. We find, for the first time in the SZ effect, a significant difference between the cooling-flow and non-cooling-flow clusters (or relaxed and non-relaxed clusters), which can explain some of the discrepancy. This lower amplitude is consistent with the lower-than-theoretically expected SZ power spectrum recently measured by the South Pole Telescope Collaboration.

A simple cosmological model with only six parameters (matter density, m h 2 , baryon density, b h 2 , Hubble constant, H 0 , amplitude of fluctuations, 8 , optical depth, , and a slope for the scalar perturbation spectrum, n s ) fits not only the 3 year WMAP temperature and polarization data, but also small-scale CMB data, light element abundances, large-scale structure observations, and the supernova luminosity/distance relationship. Using WMAP data only, the bestfit values for cosmological parameters for the power-law flat à cold dark matter (ÃCDM) model are ( m h 2 ; b h 2 ; h; n s ; ; 8 ) ¼ (0:1277 þ0:0080 À0:0079 ;0:02229 AE 0:00073;0:732 þ0:031 À0:032 ;0:958 AE 0:016;0:089 AE 0:030; 0:761 þ0:049 À0:048 ). The 3 year data dramatically shrink the allowed volume in this six-dimensional parameter space. Assuming that the primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power-law spectrum, the WMAP data alone require dark matter and favor a spectral index that is significantly less than the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles scale-invariant spectrum (n s ¼ 1; r ¼ 0). Adding additional data sets improves the constraints on these components and the spectral slope. For power-law models, WMAP data alone puts an improved upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r 0:002 < 0:65 (95% CL) and the combination of WMAP and the lensing-normalized SDSS galaxy survey implies r 0:002 < 0:30 (95% CL). Models that suppress largescale power through a running spectral index or a large-scale cutoff in the power spectrum are a better fit to the WMAP and small-scale CMB data than the power-law ÃCDM model; however, the improvement in the fit to the WMAP data is only Á 2 ¼ 3 for 1 extra degree of freedom. Models with a running-spectral index are consistent with a higher amplitude of gravity waves. In a flat universe, the combination of WMAP and the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) data yields a significant constraint on the equation of state of the dark energy, w ¼ À0:967 þ0:073 À0:072 . If we assume w ¼ À1, then the deviations from the critical density, K , are small: the combination of WMAP and the SNLS data implies k ¼ À0:011 AE 0:012. The combination of WMAP 3 year data plus the HST Key Project constraint on H 0 implies k ¼ À0:014 AE 0:017 and à ¼ 0:716 AE 0:055. Even if we do not include the prior that the universe is flat, by combining WMAP, large-scale structure, and supernova data, we can still put a strong constraint on the dark energy equation of state, w ¼ À1:08 AE 0:12. For a flat universe, the combination of WMAP and other astronomical data yield a constraint on the sum of the neutrino masses, P m < 0:66 eV (95%CL). Consistent with the predictions of simple inflationary theories, we detect no significant deviations from Gaussianity in the CMB maps using Minkowski functionals, the bispectrum, trispectrum, and a new statistic designed to detect large-scale anisotropies in the fluctuations. Subject headingg s: cosmic microwave background -cosmology: observations

We present cosmological parameter constraints based on the final nine-year WMAP data, in conjunction with a number of additional cosmological data sets. The WMAP data alone, and in combination, continue to be remarkably well fit by a six-parameter ΛCDM model. When WMAP data are combined with measurements of the high-l cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy, the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale, and the Hubble constant, the matter and energy densities, Ω b h 2 , Ω c h 2 , and Ω Λ , are each determined to a precision of ∼1.5%. The amplitude of the primordial spectrum is measured to within 3%, and there is now evidence for a tilt in the primordial spectrum at the 5σ level, confirming the first detection of tilt based on the five-year WMAP data. At the end of the WMAP mission, the nine-year data decrease the allowable volume of the six-dimensional ΛCDM parameter space by a factor of 68,000 relative to pre-WMAP measurements. We investigate a number of data combinations and show that their ΛCDM parameter fits are consistent. New limits on deviations from the six-parameter model are presented, for example: the fractional contribution of tensor modes is limited to r < 0.13 (95% CL); the spatial curvature parameter is limited to Ω k = −0.0027 +0.0039 −0.0038 ; the summed mass of neutrinos is limited to m ν < 0.44 eV (95% CL); and the number of relativistic species is found to lie within N eff = 3.84 ± 0.40, when the full data are analyzed. The joint constraint on N eff and the primordial helium abundance, Y He , agrees with the prediction of standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We compare recent Planck measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with our seven-year measurements, and show their mutual agreement. Our analysis of the polarization pattern around temperature extrema is updated. This confirms a fundamental prediction of the standard cosmological model and provides a striking illustration of acoustic oscillations and adiabatic initial conditions in the early universe. 18 The map resolution levels refer to the HEALPix pixelization scheme (Gorski et al. 2005) where r4, r5, r9, and r10 refer to N side values of 16, 32, 512, and 1024, respectively. 19 these codes are available at http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov

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1 WMAP is the result of a partnership between Princeton University and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Scientific guidance is provided by the WMAP Science Team.