Intergalactic heating by Lyman-alpha photons including hyperfine structure corrections [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2105.14516


Lyman-alpha photons from the first radiating sources in the Universe play a pivotal role in 21-cm radio detections of Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization. Comments are provided on the effect of the hyperfine structure of hydrogen on the rate of heating or cooling of the Intergalactic Medium. It is shown that heating of the still neutral hydrogen by the Cosmic Microwave Background is negligible, with a characteristic heating time of 1e27 s/ (1+z) at redshift z.

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A. Meiksin
Tue, 1 Jun 21
50/72

Comments: Accepted for publication in Research Notes of the AAS. (Missing reference added.)