Modelling non-Gaussianity from foreground contaminants

We introduce a general class of models for charaterizing the non-Gaussian properties of foreground contaminants in the cosmic microwave background with view towards the removal of the non-primordial non-Gaussian signal from the primordial one. This is important not only for treating temperature maps but also for characterizing the nature and origin of the primordial cosmological perturbations and thus establishing a theory of the early universe.