Constraining the shape of the CMB: A peak-by-peak analysis

The recent measurements of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background anisotropies are consistent with the simplest inflationary scenario and big bang nucleosynthesis constraints. However, these results rely on the assumption of a class of models based on primordial adiabatic perturbations, cold dark matter and a cosmological constant. In this paper we investigate the need for deviations from the -CDM scenario by first characterizing the spectrum using a phenomenological function in a 15 dimensional parameter space. Using a Monte Carlo Markov chain approach to Bayesian inference and a low curvature model template we then check for the presence of new physics and/or systematics in the CMB data. We find an almost perfect consistency between the phenomenological fits and the standard -CDM models. The curvature of the secondary peaks is weakly constrained by the present data, but they are well located. The improved spectral resolution expected from future satellite experiments is warranted for a definitive test of the scenario.