Unavoidable CMB spectral features and blackbody photosphere of our Universe

Abstract

Spectral features in the CMB energy spectrum contain a wealth of information about the physical processes in the early Universe, z < 2 x 10^6. The CMB spectral distortions are complementary to all other probes of cosmology. In fact, most of the information contained in the CMB spectrum is inaccessible by any other means. This review outlines the main physics behind the spectral features in the CMB throughout the history of the Universe, concentrating on the distortions which are inevitable and must be present at a level observable by the next generation of proposed CMB experiments. The spectral distortions considered here include spectral features from cosmological recombination, resonant scattering of CMB by metals during reionization which allows us to measure their abundances, y-type distortions during and after reionization and μ-type and i-type (intermediate between μand y) distortions created at redshifts z > 1.5 x 10^4.

Based on Plenary talk presented at the Thirteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity, Stockholm, July 2012. Proceedings edited by Kjell Rosquist, Robert T. Jantzen, Remo Ruffini, World Scientific, Singapore, 2013