DT/T beyond linear theory

Abstract

The major contribution to the anisotropy of the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is believed to come from the interaction of linear density perturbations with the radiation previous to the decoupling time. Assuming a standard thermal history for the gas after recombination, only the gravitational field produced by the linear density perturbations present on a $\Omega \ne 1$ universe can generate anisotropies at low z (these anisotropies would manifest on large angular scales). However, secondary anisotropies are inevitably produced during the nonlinear evolution of matter at late times even in a universe with a standard thermal history. Two effects associated to this nonlinear phase can give rise to new anisotropies: the time-varying gravitational potential of nonlinear structures (Rees-Sciama RS effect) and the inverse Compton scattering of the microwave photons with hot electrons in clusters of galaxies (Sunyaev-Zeldovich SZ effect). These two effects can produce distinct imprints on the CMB temperature anisotropy. We discuss the amplitude of the anisotropies expected and the relevant angular scales in different cosmological scenarios. Future sensitive experiments will be able to probe the CMB anisotropies beyong the first order primary contribution.

plain tex, 16 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of the Laredo Advance School on Astrophysics "The universe at high-z, large-scale structure and the cosmic microwave background". To be publised by Springer-Verlag

References in corpus (5)

• COBE-DMR-normalised Open Inflation, CDM Cosmogony
• Contribution to the Three--Point Function of the Cosmic Microwave Background from the Rees--Sciama Effect
• Skewness of Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature Fluctuations Due to Non-linear Gravitational Instability
• The Imprint of Proper Motion of Nonlinear Structures on the Cosmic Microwave Background
• On the Influence of X-Ray Galaxy Clusters in the Fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background