Cosmic confusion

We propose to minimise the cosmic confusion between Gaussian and non-Gaussian theories by investigating the structure in the mʹs for each multipole of the cosmic radiation temperature anisotropies. We prove that Gaussian theories are (nearly) the only theories which treat all the mʹs equally. Hence we introduce a set of invariant measures of “m-preference” to be seen as non-Gaussianity indicators. We then derive the distribution function for the quadrupole “m-preference” measure in Gaussian theories. A class of physically motivated toy non-Gaussian theories is introduced as an example. We show how the quadrupole m-structure is crucial in reducing the confusion between these theories and Gaussian theories.