Anisotropic perturbations due to dark energy

A variety of observational tests seem to suggest that the Universe is anisotropic. This is incompatible with the standard dogma based on adiabatic, rotationally invariant perturbations. We point out that this is a consequence of the standard decomposition of the stress-energy tensor for the cosmological fluids, and that rotational invariance need not be assumed, if there is elastic rigidity in the dark energy. The dark energy required to achieve this might be provided by point symmetric domain wall network with P/ρ=-2/3, although the concept is more general. We illustrate this with reference to a model with cubic symmetry and discuss various aspects of the model. © 2006 The American Physical Society.