Published October 20, 2013 | Version v1
Journal article

REIONIZATION ON LARGE SCALES. III. PREDICTIONS FOR LOW-l COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND POLARIZATION AND HIGH-l KINETIC SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH OBSERVABLES

  • 1. McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Wean Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15213 (United States)
  • 2. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
  • 3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

Description

We present new predictions for cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature (on small angular scales) and polarization (on large angular scales) anisotropies induced during the epoch of reionization (EoR). Using a novel method calibrated from radiation-hydrodynamic simulations, we model the EoR in large volumes (L ∼> 2 Gpc h –1). We find that the EoR contribution to the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich power spectrum (patchy kSZ) ranges between ∼0.6-2.8 μK2 at l = 3000 for the explored parameter space. For each model, the patchy kSZ power spectrum is calculated from three large 15° × 15° maps for better numerical convergence. Decreasing the size of these maps biases the overall patchy kSZ power to higher values. We find that the amplitude of the patchy kSZ power spectrum at l = 3000 follows simple scalings of Dl=3000kSZ∝ z-bar and Dl=3000kSZ∝Δz0.51 for the mean redshift ( z-bar ) and duration (Δz) of reionization. Using the constraints on z-bar from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe seven year results and the lower limit on Δz from EDGES, we find a lower limit of ∼0.4 μK2 at l = 3000. Planck will infer the mean redshift from the Thomson optical depth imprinted in the low-l polarization power spectrum. Future measurements of the high-l CMB power spectrum from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and South Pole Telescope should detect the patchy kSZ signal if the cross correlation between the thermal SZ effect and the cosmic infrared background is constrained. We show that the combination of temperature and polarization measurements constrains both z-bar and Δz. The patchy kSZ maps, power spectra templates, and the polarization power spectra will be publicly available

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/83

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
776
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
[8 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
45092000
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
ANISOTROPY; ASTRONOMY; ASTROPHYSICS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; CONVERGENCE; CORRELATIONS; COSMOLOGY; HYDRODYNAMICS; LIMITING VALUES; POLARIZATION; RED SHIFT; RELICT RADIATION; TELESCOPES; UNIVERSE
Descriptors DEC
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; FLUID MECHANICS; MECHANICS; MICROWAVE RADIATION; PHYSICS; RADIATIONS; SIMULATION