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The forest of QSO absorption lines and cosmological models with unstable dark matter
Author(s) -
Müller V.,
Mücket J. P.,
Haubold H. J.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
astronomische nachrichten
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-3994
pISSN - 0004-6337
DOI - 10.1002/asna.2113080307
Subject(s) - physics , dark matter , quasar , astrophysics , velocity dispersion , correlation function (quantum field theory) , spectral line , warm dark matter , cosmology , hot dark matter , astronomy , galaxy , dark energy , quantum mechanics , dielectric
Indications on clustering features in the two‐point correlation function of Ly α line separations in published high‐resolution spectra of quasars are presented. They are in contradiction to the self‐similar hierarchical clustering model, but they could be explained by a first generation of small‐scale pancakes in a model with unstable dark matter. A characteristic scale of velocity dispersion Δ v ≈ 150 km/s of absorption clouds within pancakes is described by corresponding coherent regions of positive correlation, while the structure adjacent on the lines of sight are separated by a comoving distance of (18 ± 6) Mpc ( H 0 = 50 km/s Mpc). The appropriate coherence length of the fluctuation spectrum may result from the free streaming length of (unstable) neutrinos of (100 … 200) eV rest mass.