The spinorial space-time that I suggested in 1996-7 [1,2] naturally predicts a privileged space dimension for each observer. This was emphasized in some of my recent works [3,4], well before the Planck collaboration wrote on March 21-22 [5] :

http://sci.esa.int/planck/51559-hemispheric-asymmetry-and-cold-spot-in-the-cosmic-microwave-background/

Two Cosmic Microwave Background anomalous features (...) are confirmed (...). One is an asymmetry in the average temperatures on opposite hemispheres of the sky (...).

(end of quote)

and on March 21, Nature News reported on this issue [6] :

http://www.nature.com/news/planck-telescope-peers-into-primordial-universe-1.12658

The asymmetry "defines a preferred direction in space, which is an extremely strange result", says Efstathiou.

(end of quote)

Planck was thus confirming with more precision a previous observation by WMAP.

But is such a resullt really "extremely strange" ? It is actually quite normal, and almost trivial, considering the space-time pattern I have been dealing with since 1996.

For a description of the spinorial space-time, see also my previous articles in this blog. The cosmic time t (age of the Universe) is just the modulus of the space-time position spinor ξ . 

In September 2011, a year and half before the Planck announcement, I explicitly wrote :

http://arxiv.org/abs/1011.4889
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1011.4889v4.pdf

6.2.c A privileged space direction ?

A specific property of the spinorial space-time considered here is that, to each point ξ , a (complex)
one-dimensional spinorial subspace can be associated such that for any point ξ′ of this subspace
one has :

ξ† ξ′ = | ξ′ | | ξ | exp (iφ)           (11)

where exp (iφ), with φ real, stands for a complex phase.

If | ξ′ | = | ξ | so that ξ and ξ′ belong to the same constant-time hypersphere, the complex phase exp (iφ) is associated to the SU(2) matrix transforming ξ into ξ′. This transformation, U = exp (i/2 t⁻¹ σ.z) where t is the cosmic time t = | ξ | and z a real space vector, is generated by a sigma-like matrix σ.z | z |⁻¹ associated to a unique space direction z | z |⁻¹ on the constant time hypersphere.

ξ and ξ′ are both eigenspinors of σ.z . For each point ξ of the spinorial space-time, other than ξ = 0, there exists a unique space direction for which ξ is an eigenspinor of the associated sigmalike matrix. Exponentiating this matrix with an imaginary coefficient generates the directions of the relevant (complex one-dimensional) spinorial subspace associated to ξ .

With | ξ′ | = | ξ | and a positive phase φ, one actually has :

ξ′ = exp (i/2 t⁻¹ | z |) ξ            (12)

and similarly, with − | z | instead of | z |, if φ is negative.

The set of points of the spinorial space-time thus generated obviously corresponds to a (spinorial)
circle of radius | ξ′ | = t (t = cosmic time) on the constant-time hypersphere, including the
point ξ itself and its SU(2) antipodal - ξ .

Thus, ”looking at” the initial point of our Universe ξ = 0 from a point ξ of the present time spatial hypersphere naturally leads, in the spinorial coordinates considered here, to the definition of a privileged space direction on the space hypersphere itself.

The direct memory of the geometry leading to such a privileged space direction is basically lost
if standard space coordinates on the constant-time hypersphere are used and standard matter is dealt with without incorporating its deepest structure as well as the most primordial origin of the Universe. However, several possible tracks from this spinorial effect in Cosmology and Particle Physics can still be considered.

In particular :

- The internal structure of standard spin-1/2 particles, as well as their interaction properties at very small distance scales, may contain the expression of a similar phenomenon.

- Signatures from a pre-Big Bang era can yield relevant information on this privileged space direction and on effects of the same origin through WMAP, Planck and other experiments.

- Similarly, ultra-high energy cosmic rays may be sensitive to both cosmological and ”beyond Planck” phenomena containing effects related to the privileged space direction.

Further work on this subject is clearly required.

(end of quote)

This was reminded, in particular, in my contribution to Proceedings of the ICFP 2012 conference (OAC Kolymbari, Crete, June 2012) were I wrote last February :

http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/79/55/88/PDF/PreBBCreteNew.pdf

A specific cosmological property of such a spinorial space-time is [17] that to each point ξ, a privileged space direction can be associated at cosmic scale through the subspace where for any point ξ' one has:

ξ† ξ' = | ξ' | |ξ | exp (iφ)                               (8)

and exp (iφ), with φ real, stands for a complex phase. This subspace is generated using a σ matrix of which ξ is an eigenstate. Then, the privileged space direction is obtained by multiplying ξ by an arbitrary complex phase.

(end of quote)

The transparencies I presented in June 2012 can be found at the address :

http://indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?contribId=215&sessionId=56&resId=0&materialId=slides&confId=176361

Combined with parity violation, a cosmology based on the spinorial space-time can readily lead to phenomena like that reported by WMAP and Planck. More detailed mechanisms will be discussed in the next article.

[1] L. Gonzalez-Mestres, Physical and Cosmological Implications of a Possible Class of Particles Able to Travel Faster than Light, contribution to the 28th International Conference on High Energy Physics, Warsaw 1996, arXiv:hep-ph/9610474, and references therein.
[2] L. Gonzalez-Mestres, Space, Time and Superluminal Particles, arXiv:physics/9702026
[3] L. Gonzalez-Mestres, Cosmic rays and tests of fundamental principles, CRIS 2010 Proceedings, Nucl. Phys. B, Proc. Suppl. 212-213 (2011), 26, and references therein. The arXiv.org version arXiv:1011.4889 includes a relevant Post Scriptum.
[4] L. Gonzalez-Mestres, Pre-Big Bang, fundamental Physics and noncyclic cosmologies, presented at the International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics, ICFP 2012, Kolymbari, Crete, June 10-16 2012, mp_arc 13-18, and references therein.
[5] Planck March 21 statement Hemispheric asymmetry and cold spot in the Cosmic Microwave Background.
[6] Mark Peplow, Planck telescope peers into primordial Universe, Nature News 31 March 2013.