Open AccessRecombination induced softening and reheating of the cosmic plasma
Author(s) -
Leung P. K.,
Chan C. W.,
Chu M.C.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07524.x
Subject(s) - physics , cosmic microwave background , adiabatic process , astrophysics , cmb cold spot , cosmic cancer database , softening , dark matter , plasma , spectral index , planck , recombination , spectral line , astronomy , thermodynamics , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , anisotropy , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
The atomic recombination process leads to a softening of the matter equation of state as reflected by a reduced generalized adiabatic index, with accompanying heat release. We study the effects of this recombination softening and reheating of the cosmic plasma on the ionization history, visibility function, cold dark matter (CDM) transfer function and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectra. The resulting modification of the CMB spectrum is 1/10 of WMAP 's current error and is comparable to Planck 's error. Therefore, this effect should be considered when data with higher accuracy are analysed.