2007/12/12 by C. Burigana, L. A. Popa, R. Salvaterra +6
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #COSMIC cancer database #Cosmic background radiation #Cosmic microwave background #Cosmic variance #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Ages #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Multipole expansion #Optics #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Radiative transfer #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Redshift #Reionization #Spectral density #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.12845.x
9 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the publication on MNRAS
arxiv created 2007/12/12 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/13 · arxiv updated 2015/05/12 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We compute the imprints left on the CMB by two cosmic reionization models consistent with current observations but characterized by alternative radiative feedback prescriptions (suppression and filtering) resulting in a different suppression of star formation in low-mass halos. The models imply different ionization and thermal histories and 21 cm background signals. The derived Comptonization, u, and free-free distortion, yB, parameters are below current observational limits for both models. However, the value of u = 1.69 * 10-7 (9.65 * 10-8) for the suppression (filtering) model is in the detectability range of the next generation of CMB spectrum experiments. Through the dedicated Boltzmann code CMBFAST, modified to include the above ionization histories, we compute the CMB angular power spectrum (APS) of the TT, TE, and EE modes. For the EE mode the differences between these models are significantly larger than the cosmic and sampling variance over the multipole range l = 5-15, leaving a good chance of discriminating between these feedback mechanisms with forthcoming/future CMB polarization experiments. The main limitations come from foreground contamination: it should be subtracted at per cent level in terms of APS, a result potentially achievable by novel component separation techniques and mapping of Galactic foreground.