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arXiv 1502.02731astro-ph.CO
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从各向异性21厘米信号重建第一宇宙源的性质

Reconstructing the nature of the first cosmic sources from the anisotropic 21-cm signal

Anastasia Fialkov, Rennan Barkana, Aviad Cohen

摘要:

红移21厘米的背景有望成为早期宇宙的有力探测器,携带来自广泛红移的宇宙学和天体物理学信息。特别是,在21厘米的亮度温度的波动的功率谱是各向异性的,由于视线的速度梯度,这在原则上允许一个简单的提取这种信息的限制线性波动。然而,最近的数值研究表明,21厘米的信号实际上是相当复杂的,它的分析可能取决于详细的模型拟合。我们提出了第一个现实的模拟各向异性21厘米功率谱在早期宇宙历史的广泛时期。我们表明,在可观测的尺度上,各向异性是大的,因此在大多数红移可测量,其形式跟踪21厘米波动的演变,因为它们是早期产生的莱曼辐射从恒星,然后切换到X射线辐射从早期热源,最后从恒星电离辐射。特别是,我们预测宇宙加热(在z ~ 15),当各向异性是小的,在此期间的21厘米功率谱的形状在大尺度上直接由X射线源的通量的平均径向分布确定的红移窗口。这使得独立于模型的重建最早宇宙加热源的X射线光谱成为可能。

英文摘要:

The redshifted 21-cm background is expected to be a powerful probe of the early Universe, carrying both cosmological and astrophysical information from a wide range of redshifts. In particular, the power spectrum of fluctuations in the 21-cm brightness temperature is anisotropic due to the line-of-sight velocity gradient, which in principle allows for a simple extraction of this information in the limit of linear fluctuations. However, recent numerical studies suggest that the 21-cm signal is actually rather complex, and its analysis likely depends on detailed model fitting. We present the first realistic simulation of the anisotropic 21-cm power spectrum over a wide period of early cosmic history. We show that on observable scales, the anisotropy is large and thus measurable at most redshifts, and its form tracks the evolution of 21-cm fluctuations as they are produced early on by Lyman-a radiation from stars, then switch to X-ray radiation from early heating sources, and finally to ionizing radiation from stars. In particular, we predict a redshift window during cosmic heating (at z ~ 15), when the anisotropy is small, during which the shape of the 21-cm power spectrum on large scales is determined directly by the average radial distribution of the flux from X-ray sources. This makes possible a model-independent reconstruction of the X-ray spectrum of the earliest sources of cosmic heating.

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