Holographic Principle and the Surface of Last Scatter

Abstract

Using data, provided by WMAP7, I calculate the entropy of the visible universe, where visible refers to electromagnetic radiation, and hence the visible universe is bounded by the Surface of Last Scatter. The dimensionless entropy, $S/k$, is $(8.85 \pm 0.37)$ times larger than allowed by a simplified and non-covariant holographic principle, that the entropy cannot exceed that of a black hole. The measurement of a shift parameter, introduced by Bond, Efstathiou and Tegmark in 1997, plays an important role in the accuracy of the calculation, which leads to the large discrepancy.