Author
Melia, F.Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Dept Phys, Appl Math ProgramUniv Arizona, Dept Astron
Issue Date
2020-06-20Keywords
General Physics and Astronomy
Metadata
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SPRINGER HEIDELBERGCitation
Melia, F. Reassessing dust’s role in forming the CMB. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 135, 511 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00533-2Journal
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL PLUSRights
© Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
The notion that dustmight have formed the cosmic microwave background (CMB) has been strongly refuted on the strength of four decades of observation and analysis, in favour of recombination at a redshift z similar to 1080. But tension with the data is growing in several other areas, including measurements of the Hubble constant H(z) and the BAO scale, which directly or indirectly impact the physics at the surface of last scattering (LSS). The R-h = ct universe resolves at least some of this tension. We show in this paper that-if the BAO scale is in fact equal to the acoustic horizon-the redshift of the LSS in this cosmology is z(cmb) similar to 16, placing it within the era of Pop III star formation, prior to the epoch of reionization at 15 greater than or similar to z greater than or similar to 6. Quite remarkably, the measured values of z(cmb) and H-0 = H(0) in this model are sufficient to argue that the CMB temperature today ought to be similar to 3 K, so H-0 and the baryon-to-photon ratio are not independent free parameters. This scenario might have resulted from rethermalization of the CMB photons by dust, presumably supplied to the interstellar medium by the ejecta of Pop III stars. Dust rethermalization may therefore yet resurface as a relevant ingredient in the R-h = ct universe. Upcoming high-sensitivity instruments should be able to readily distinguish between the recombination and dust scenarios by either (i) detecting recombination lines at z similar to 1080 or (ii) establishing a robust frequency-dependent variation of the CMB power spectrum at the level of similar to 2-4% across the sampled frequency range.Note
12 month embargo; published online: 20 June 2020EISSN
2190-5444Version
Final accepted manuscriptae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00533-2