Possible interaction between baryons and dark-matter particles revealed by the first stars
Possible interaction between baryons and dark-matter particles revealed by the first stars:
Hey there a few days ago we posted about discovery of first stars of universe and now we have got another news about baryon and dark matter particles.
The cosmic radio-frequency spectrum is expected to show a strong absorption signal corresponding to the 21-centimeter-wavelength transition of atomic hydrogen around redshift 20, which arises from Lyman-α radiation from some of the earliest stars1,2,3,4. By observing this 21-centimeter signal—either its sky-averaged spectrum5 or maps of its fluctuations, obtained using radio interferometers6,7—we can obtain information about cosmic dawn, the era when the first astrophysical sources of light were formed. The recent detection of the global 21-centimetre spectrum5 reveals a stronger absorption than the maximum predicted by existing models, at a confidence level of 3.8 standard deviations. Here we report that this absorption can be explained by the combination of radiation from the first stars and excess cooling of the cosmic gas induced by its interaction with dark matter8,9,10. Our analysis indicates that the spatial fluctuations of the 21-centimetre signal at cosmic dawn could be an order of magnitude larger than previously expected and that the dark-matter particle is no heavier than several proton masses, well below the commonly predicted mass of weakly interacting massive particles. Our analysis also confirms that dark matter is highly non-relativistic and at least moderately cold, and primordial velocities predicted by models of warm dark matter are potentially detectable. These results indicate that 21-centimetre cosmology can be used as a dark-matter probe
References:
- 1.
Madau, P., Meiksin, A. & Rees, M. J. 21 centimeter tomography of the intergalactic medium at high redshift. Astrophys. J. 475, 429–444 (1997)
- 2.
Tozzi, P., Madau, P., Meiksin, A. & Rees, M. J. Radio signatures of H I at high redshift: mapping the end of the “dark ages”. Astrophys. J.528, 597–606 (2000)
- 3.
Furlanetto, S. R., Oh, S. P. & Briggs, F. H. Cosmology at low frequencies: the 21 cm transition and the high-redshift Universe. Phys. Rep. 433, 181–301 (2006)
- 4.
Barkana, R. The rise of the first stars: supersonic streaming, radiative feedback, and 21-cm cosmology. Phys. Rep. 645, 1–59 (2016)
- 5.
Bowman, J. D., Rogers, A. E. E., Monsalve, R. A., Mozdzen, T. J. & Mahesh, N. An absorption profile centred at 78 megahertz in the sky-averaged spectrum. Nature 555, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25792 (2018)
- 6.
DeBoer, D. R. et al. Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 129, 045001 (2017)
- 7.
Koopmans, L. et al. The cosmic dawn and epoch of reionisation with SKA. In Proc. Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array (Proceedings of Science, 2015)
- 8.
Dvorkin, C., Blum, K. & Kamionkowski, M. Constraining dark matter–baryon scattering with linear cosmology. Phys. Rev. D 89, 023519 (2014)
- 9.
Tashiro, H., Kadota, K. & Silk, J. Effects of dark matter-baryon scattering on redshifted 21 cm signals. Phys. Rev. D 90, 083522 (2014)
- 10.
Muñoz, J. B., Kovetz, E. D. & Ali-Haïmoud, Y. Heating of baryons due to scattering with dark matter during the dark ages. Phys. Rev. D 92, 083528 (2015)
The cosmic radio-frequency spectrum is expected to show a strong absorption signal corresponding to the 21-centimeter-wavelength transition of atomic hydrogen around redshift 20, which arises from Lyman-α radiation from some of the earliest stars1,2,3,4. By observing this 21-centimeter signal—either its sky-averaged spectrum5 or maps of its fluctuations, obtained using radio interferometers6,7—we can obtain information about cosmic dawn, the era when the first astrophysical sources of light were formed. The recent detection of the global 21-centimetre spectrum5 reveals a stronger absorption than the maximum predicted by existing models, at a confidence level of 3.8 standard deviations. Here we report that this absorption can be explained by the combination of radiation from the first stars and excess cooling of the cosmic gas induced by its interaction with dark matter8,9,10. Our analysis indicates that the spatial fluctuations of the 21-centimetre signal at cosmic dawn could be an order of magnitude larger than previously expected and that the dark-matter particle is no heavier than several proton masses, well below the commonly predicted mass of weakly interacting massive particles. Our analysis also confirms that dark matter is highly non-relativistic and at least moderately cold, and primordial velocities predicted by models of warm dark matter are potentially detectable. These results indicate that 21-centimetre cosmology can be used as a dark-matter probe
Madau, P., Meiksin, A. & Rees, M. J. 21 centimeter tomography of the intergalactic medium at high redshift. Astrophys. J. 475, 429–444 (1997)
Tozzi, P., Madau, P., Meiksin, A. & Rees, M. J. Radio signatures of H I at high redshift: mapping the end of the “dark ages”. Astrophys. J.528, 597–606 (2000)
Furlanetto, S. R., Oh, S. P. & Briggs, F. H. Cosmology at low frequencies: the 21 cm transition and the high-redshift Universe. Phys. Rep. 433, 181–301 (2006)
Barkana, R. The rise of the first stars: supersonic streaming, radiative feedback, and 21-cm cosmology. Phys. Rep. 645, 1–59 (2016)
Bowman, J. D., Rogers, A. E. E., Monsalve, R. A., Mozdzen, T. J. & Mahesh, N. An absorption profile centred at 78 megahertz in the sky-averaged spectrum. Nature 555, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25792 (2018)
DeBoer, D. R. et al. Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 129, 045001 (2017)
Koopmans, L. et al. The cosmic dawn and epoch of reionisation with SKA. In Proc. Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array (Proceedings of Science, 2015)
Dvorkin, C., Blum, K. & Kamionkowski, M. Constraining dark matter–baryon scattering with linear cosmology. Phys. Rev. D 89, 023519 (2014)
Tashiro, H., Kadota, K. & Silk, J. Effects of dark matter-baryon scattering on redshifted 21 cm signals. Phys. Rev. D 90, 083522 (2014)
Muñoz, J. B., Kovetz, E. D. & Ali-Haïmoud, Y. Heating of baryons due to scattering with dark matter during the dark ages. Phys. Rev. D 92, 083528 (2015)
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