We discuss the constraints one can place on cosmological parameters usingcurrent cosmic microwave background data. A standard $\chi^2$--minimizationover band--power estimates is first presented, followed by a discussion of themore correct likelihood approach. We propose an approximation to the completelikelihood function of an arbitrary experiment requiring only limited andeasily found information about the observations. Examination of both openmodels -- $(\Omega,h,Q,n)$ -- and flat models ($\Omega+\Omega_\Lambda=1$) --$(\Omega,\Omega_b,h,Q,n)$ -- leaves one rather robust result: models with smallcurvature are favored.
展开▼