BOOMERanG constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity from analytical Minkowski functionals

Abstract

We use Minkowski functionals (MFs) to constrain a primordial non-Gaussian contribution to the cosmic microwave background intensity field as observed in the 150- and 145-GHz BOOMERanG maps from the 1998 and 2003 flights, respectively, performing for the first time a joint analysis of the two data sets. A perturbative expansion of the MF formulae in the limit of a weakly non-Gaussian field yields analytical formulae, derived by Hikage et al., which can be used to constrain the coupling parameter fNL without the need for non-Gaussian simulations. We find −770 < fNL < 500 at 95 per cent CL, significantly improving the previous constraints by De Troia et al. on the BOOMERanG 2003 data set. These are the best fNL limits to date for suborbital probes.