Narrow Results

We use the Planck LFI 70 GHz data to further probe point source detection technique in the sky maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. The method developed by Tegmark et al. for foreground reduced maps and the Kolmogorov parameter as the descriptor are adopted for the analysis of Planck satellite CMB temperature data. Most of the detected points coincide with point sources already revealed by other methods. However, we have also found nine source candidates for which still no counterparts are known.

The Planck space mission should provide sufficiently low-noise level, hight resolution data to allow the first measurement of the weak gravitational lensing effect imprinted in the CMB maps by the intervening large scale structures. The exploitation of the CMB lensing information can significantly improve the Planck mission sensitivity to cosmological parameters. After a brief review of the CMB lensing and its signatures on the primary CMB observables, we highlight the twofold relevance of extracting the CMB lensing, which is both a contaminant of the primary CMB and a valuable probe of the large-scale structures. The statistical methods which exist in the literature for its reconstruction are presented, focusing on an application to the Planck experiment. Its capability to extract the CMB lensing and the robustness of this measurement to instrument systematics and astrophysical foregrounds are discussed.