LAMBDA News
Overview of CMBFAST
CMBFAST is a code, written by U. Seljak and M. Zaldarriaga, for calculating
the linear cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy spectra based on integration
over the sources along the photon past light cone. In this approach the temperature
anisotropy is written as a time integral over the product of a geometrical term
and a source term. The package may be downloaded from and documentation may found at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~mzaldarr/CMBFAST/cmbfast.html
CMBFAST Online
We have developed a web-based server-side interface to CMBFAST. A form is provided
to allow entry of the parameters required by CMBFAST; CMBFAST is then run (on
the web server) with these parameters. Some of the results are displayed graphically;
all of the results are stored in files and made available for download through
the user's web browser. This interface may be used from this site or you may download
the scripts and use it on your own web server. Our interface supports CMBFAST 4.5.1.
The HEALPix synfast application has been linked into the online tool so that simulated sky maps may be generated using the spectra produced by the CMBFAST run.
The current web interface form is written as an HTML page using Javascript to manage it:
The older version of the interface used a Perl script to create the form, with Javascript redrawing it as different options are selected:
A collection of journal references describing CMBFAST:
- Seljak, U., & Zaldarriaga, M., 1996 ApJ, 469, 437
- Zaldarriaga, M., Seljak, U., Bertschinger, E., 1998 ApJ, 494, 491
- Zaldarriaga, M., & Seljak, U., 2000 ApJS, 129, pp 431-434
CMBEASY is a C++ package, initially based on CMBFAST, written by Michael Doran of Dartmouth College. The package has been recently upgraded to include a Monte Carlo Markov Chain-based parameter likelihood routine as well. It is available from http://www.cmbeasy.org; papers describing it are http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0302138 and http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0311311.
