1999/08/31 by J. Weller, Jochen Weller · 15 citations
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Anisotropy #Astrophysics #COSMIC cancer database #Chemistry #Computational physics #Cosmic background radiation #Cosmic microwave background #Cosmic variance #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Galaxy #Optics #Physics #Planck #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Redshift #Reionization #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/312392
published in The Astrophysical Journal 527(1), L1-L4 (IOP Publishing) · 10 pages, 2 eps figures, final version accepted for publication in ApJ Letters
arxiv created 1999/10/07 · openalex publication_date 1999/12/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In a universe with inhomogeneous reionization, the ionized patches create a second-order signal in the cosmic microwave background polarization anisotropy. This signal originates in the coupling of the free-electron fluctuation to the quadruple moment of the temperature anisotropy. We examine the contribution from a simple inhomogeneous reionization model and find that the signal from such a process is below the detectable limits of the Planck Surveyor mission. However, the signal is above the fundamental uncertainty limit from cosmic variance, so that a future detection with a high-accuracy experiment on subarcminute scales is possible.