Model-independent cosmological constraints from the CMB

We analyse CMB data in a manner which is as model-independent as possible. We encode the effects of late-time cosmology into a single parameter which determines the distance to the last scattering surface. We exclude low multipoles \<40 from the analysis. We consider the WMAP5 and ACBAR data. We obtain the cosmological parameters 100\b =2. 13\ 0. 05, \c=0. 124\ 0. 007, nₛ=0. 93\ 0. 02 and \A=0. 593\ 0. 001 degrees (68% C. L. ). The last number is the angular scale subtended by the sound horizon at decoupling. There is a systematic shift in the parameters as more low \ data is omitted, towards smaller values of \b and nₛ and larger values of \c. The scale \A remains stable and very well determined.