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

References in corpus (12)

• Dark Matter Candidates from Particle Physics and Methods of Detection
• Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in an optical microcavity
• Cosmological parameters from combining the Lyman-alpha forest with CMB, galaxy clustering and SN constraints
• High resolution CMB power spectrum from the complete ACBAR data set
• Beyond y and μ: the shape of the CMB spectral distortions in the intermediate epoch, 1.5x10^4 < z < 2x10^5
• Lines in the Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum from the Epoch of Cosmological Hydrogen Recombination
• Lines in the cosmic microwave background spectrum from the epoch of cosmological helium recombination
• Free-bound emission from cosmological hydrogen recombination
• Mixing of blackbodies: entropy production and dissipation of sound waves in the early Universe
• Creation of the CMB spectrum: precise analytic solutions for the blackbody photosphere
• Constraints on Primordial Black Holes by Distortions of Cosmic Microwave Background
• Constraining CSL strength parameter $\lambda$ from standard cosmology and spectral distortions of CMBR

Cited by in corpus (57)

• Fundamental Physics with the Square Kilometre Array
• Features and New Physical Scales in Primordial Observables: Theory and Observation
• Teasing bits of information out of the CMB energy spectrum
• Which spectral distortions does $\Lambda$CDM actually predict?
• The Effects of Dark Matter-Baryon Scattering on Redshifted 21 cm Signals
• The synergy between CMB spectral distortions and anisotropies
• Green's function of the cosmological thermalization problem II: effect of photon injection and constraints
• Spectral distortion constraints on photon injection from low-mass decaying particles
• Constraining Primordial Black-Hole Bombs through Spectral Distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Reheating the Universe Once More: The Dissipation of Acoustic Waves as a Novel Probe of Primordial Inhomogeneities on Even Smaller Scales
• Forecasts for CMB μ- and i-type spectral distortion constraints on the primordial power spectrum on scales 8 < k < 10^4 Mpc^-1 with the future Pixie-like experiments
• On the detection of spectral ripples from the Recombination Epoch
• CosmoSpec: Fast and detailed computation of the cosmological recombination radiation from hydrogen and helium
• Thermalization of large energy release in the early Universe
• Constraints on primordial magnetic fields from CMB distortions in the axiverse
• Dark Photon Dark Matter in the Presence of Inhomogeneous Structure
• Primordial black holes as a novel probe of primordial gravitational waves. II: Detailed analysis
• $\mu$-Distortions or Running: A Guaranteed Discovery from CMB Spectrometry
• Refined approximations for the distortion visibility function and mu-type spectral distortions
• Testing Inflation and Curvaton Scenarios with CMB Distortions
• Rich structure of non-thermal relativistic CMB spectral distortions from high energy particle cascades at redshifts $z\lesssim 2\times 10^5$
• Evolution of CMB spectral distortion anisotropies and tests of primordial non-Gaussianity
• Polarized anisotropic spectral distortions of the CMB: Galactic and extragalactic constraints on photon-axion conversion
• Mapping the relativistic electron gas temperature across the sky
• Rayleigh scattering: blue sky thinking for future CMB observations
• Imprints of Axion Superradiance in the CMB
• ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: implications for spectral line intensity mapping at millimeter wavelengths and CMB spectral distortions
• Extracting foreground-obscured $\mu$-distortion anisotropies to constrain primordial non-Gaussianity
• Spectral distortions of the CMB dipole
• Non-Gaussianity constraints from Planck spectral distortion cross-correlations
• Observing patchy reionization with future CMB polarization experiments
• Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: effects of observer peculiar motion
• Semi-analytical description of clumping factor and CMB free-free distortions from reionization
• CMB distortion anisotropies due to the decay of primordial magnetic fields
• Sensitivity forecasts for the cosmological recombination radiation in the presence of foregrounds
• Spectral Distortion of the CMB by the Cumulative CO Emission from Galaxies throughout Cosmic History
• New CMB spectral distortion constraints on decaying dark matter with full evolution of electromagnetic cascades before recombination
• Constraints on Gravitino Decay and the Scale of Inflation using CMB spectral distortions
• Spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background polarization
• Constraints on non-resonant photon-axion conversion from the Planck satellite data
• Percent-level constraints on baryonic feedback with spectral distortion measurements
• On a possible nonequilibrium imprint in the cosmic background at low frequencies
• CMB spectral distortions from continuous large energy release
• Clearing the Brush: The Last Stand of Solo Small Field Inflation
• Leverage on small-scale primordial non-Gaussianity through cross-correlations between CMB $E$-mode and $\mu$-distortion anisotropies
• New Horizons in Cosmology with Spectral Distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background
• The Darkness of Spin-0 Dark Radiation
• The Distortion of the Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum Due to Intergalactic Dust
• Testing kinetically coupled inflation models with CMB distortions
• Cosmology with Recombination Spectrum
• Test of the Einstein equivalence principle with spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background
• Effects of observer peculiar motion on the isotropic background frequency spectrum: from monopole to higher multipoles
• The optical system of the Tenerife Microwave Spectrometer: a window for observing the 10-20 GHz sky spectra
• Fifty shades of grayness: parametrizations of spectral distortions and applications in cosmology
• Recent results and perspectives on cosmology and fundamental physics from microwave surveys
• The Glow of Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter: (IV) CMB Spectral and Anisotropy Signatures
• Cosmology in the De Donder-Weyl Formulation of Einstein-Cartan Gravity