Local properties of the large-scale peaks of the CMB temperature
  In the present work, we study the largest structures of the CMB temperature
measured by Planck in terms of the most prominent peaks on the sky, which, in
particular, are located in the southern galactic hemisphere. Besides these
large-scale features, the well-known Cold Spot anomaly is included in the
analysis. All these peaks would contribute significantly to some of the CMB
large-scale anomalies, as the parity and hemispherical asymmetries, the dipole
modulation, the alignment between the quadrupole and the octopole, or in the
case of the Cold Spot, to the non-Gaussianity of the field. The analysis of the
peaks is performed by using their multipolar profiles, which characterize the
local shape of the peaks in terms of the discrete Fourier transform of the
azimuthal angle. In order to quantify the local anisotropy of the peaks, the
distribution of the phases of the multipolar profiles is studied by using the
Rayleigh random walk methodology. Finally, a direct analysis of the
2-dimensional field around the peaks is performed in order to take into account
the effect of the galactic mask. The results of the analysis conclude that,
once the peak amplitude and its first and second order derivatives at the
centre are conditioned, the rest of the field is compatible with the standard
model. In particular, it is observed that the Cold Spot anomaly is caused by
the large value of curvature at the centre.
