Considerations on some neglected but impotant issues concerning the In ternal Linear Combination method in Astronomy

Abstract

Although the ``internal linear'' combination method (ILC) is a technique widely used for the separation of the Cosmic Microwave Background signal from the Galactic foregrounds, its characteristics are not yet well defined. This can lead to misleading conclusions about the actual potentialities and limits of such approach in real applications. Here we discuss briefly some facts about ILC that to our knowledge are not fully worked out in literature and yet have deep effects in the interpretation of the results.