Asymmetries in the angular distribution of the CMB
  We investigate some of the asymmetries reported in the CMB temperature
angular distribution considering the {\Lambda}CDM model in the 3, 5 and 7 year
WMAP data. We aim to analyze the 4 quadrants of the ILC CMB maps using 3
Galactic cuts: the WMAP KQ85 mask, a |b|<10 degrees and the WMAP KQ85 mask
+|b|<10 degrees Galactic cuts. We used the two-point angular correlation
function in the WMAP maps for each of their quadrants. The same procedure was
done for 1000 Monte Carlo simulations that were produced using the WMAP team
{\Lambda}CDM best-fit power spectrum. We also changed the quadrupole and
octopole amplitudes to fit their observable WMAP values in the {\Lambda}CDM
model, hereafter M{\Lambda}CDM. Our analysis showed asymmetries between the
southeastern quadrant (SEQ) and the other quadrants (southwestern quadrant
(SWQ), northeastern quadrant (NEQ) and northwestern quadrant (NWQ)). Over all
WMAP maps, the probability for the occurrence of the SEQ-NEQ, SEQ-SWQ and
SEQ-NWQ asymmetries varies from 0.1% (SEQ-NEQ) to 8.5% (SEQ-SWQ) using the KQ85
mask and the KQ85 mask + |b|<10 degrees Galactic cut, respectively. We also
calculated the probabilities for the M{\Lambda}CDM, finding no significant
differences in the results. Moreover, the cold spot region was covered with
masks of 5,10 and 15 degrees radius and again the results remained unchanged.
This analysis was also repeated for random regions in the SEQ quadrant with a
15-degree mask and the SEQ quadrant still remained asymmetric with respect to
the other quadrants of the CMB map. We found an excess of power in the TPCF at
scales >100 degrees in the SEQ with respect to the other quadrants that is
independent of the Galactic cut used, and found no evidence for its possible
relation with the cold spot signal. We could not find any specific region
within the SEQ that might be considered responsible for the quadrant asymmetry.
