Reionization history and CMB parameter estimation
arXiv:1211.7007 · doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2013/05/017
Abstract
We study how uncertainty in the reionization history of the universe affects estimates of other cosmological parameters from the Cosmic Microwave Background. We analyze WMAP7 data and synthetic Planck-quality data generated using a realistic scenario for the reionization history of the universe obtained from high-resolution numerical simulation. We perform parameter estimation using a simple sudden reionization approximation, and using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique proposed by Mortonson and Hu. We reach two main conclusions: (1) Adopting a simple sudden reionization model does not introduce measurable bias into values for other parameters, indicating that detailed modeling of reionization is not necessary for the purpose of parameter estimation from future CMB data sets such as Planck. (2) PCA analysis does not allow accurate reconstruction of the actual reionization history of the universe in a realistic case.
References in corpus (12)
- Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
- Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Power Spectra and WMAP-Derived Parameters
- UV Luminosity Functions at z~4, 5, and 6 from the HUDF and other Deep HST ACS Fields: Evolution and Star Formation History
- Escape of Ionizing Radiation from High Redshift Galaxies
- Model-independent constraints on reionization from large-scale CMB polarization
- Relative Role of Stars and Quasars in Cosmic Reionization
- How Dark Matter Reionized The Universe
- Reionization constraints from five-year WMAP data
- Impact of reionization on CMB polarization tests of slow-roll inflation
- Harrison-Z'eldovich primordial spectrum is consistent with observations
- Impact of general reionization scenarios on extraction of inflationary parameters
- Model independent approaches to reionization in the analysis of upcoming CMB data