Scaling defect decay and the reionization history of the Universe

Abstract

We consider a model for the reionization history of the Universe in which a significant fraction of the observed optical depth is a result of direct reionization by the decay products of a scaling cosmic defect network. We show that such network can make a significant contribution to the reionization history of the Universe even if its energy density is very small (the defect energy density has to be greater than about $10^{-11}$ of the background density). We compute the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature, polarization and temperature-polarization cross power spectrum and show that a contribution to the observed optical depth due to the decay products of a scaling defect network may help to reconcile a high optical depth with a low redshift of complete reionization suggested by quasar data. However, if the energy density of defects is approximately a constant fraction of the background density then these models do not explain the large scale bump in the temperature-polarization cross power spectrum observed by WMAP.

arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• Cosmology at Low Frequencies: The 21 cm Transition and the High-Redshift Universe
• Integrable turbulence and formation of rogue waves
• The Effects of Dark Matter Decay and Annihilation on the High-Redshift 21 cm Background
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• Cosmological Consequences of Topological Defects: Dark Energy and Varying Fundamental Constants