COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND DIPOLE FROM AN ENTROPY GRADIENT

It is generally accepted that the observed CMBR dipole arises from the motion of the local group relative to the CMBR frame. An alternative interpretation is that the dipole results from an ultralarge scale (la mbda > 100c/H-0) isocurvature perturbation. Recently it was argued tha t this alternative possibility is ruled out. We examine the growth of perturbations on scales larger than the Hubble radius, and in view of this analysis we show that the isocurvature interpretation is still a viable explanation. If the dipole is due to peculiar motion then it sh ould appear in observations of other background sources provided that they are distant enough.