Observational manifestations of prerecombination protoobjects

We consider the image formation for an extremely distant source in an optically dense, homogeneous, and isotropic medium. We show that the angular size of the image would presently be θ₀ ≈ 10′, irrespective of the initial redshift z. Parameters of the inhomogeneities capable of producing the observed effect were estimated. We note that this effect should be taken into account for the baryon density fluctuations that were damped according to Silk at the prerecombination epoch. The spot radiation spectrum is shown to be a diluted Planckian spectrum with a dilution factor much larger than unity. We also point out the presence of peculiar tangential polarization in the spot, which reaches several tens of percent at the spot edge. All these observational features clearly distinguish the fluctuations under consideration from the standard fluctuations.     

A difference method of searching for spectral-spatial fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background radiation

We consider methods of searching for the spectral-spatial fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background radiation that were formed in the early Universe. Based on the narrow-band spatial-frequency properties of these fluctuations, we suggest a difference method of their search. We describe the method and present our simulation results. This technique is shown to have a significant advantage over the existing methods. We give recommendations to optimize the observing and reduction procedures.     

Quantum peculiarities of the primordial hydrogen recombination

Some problems of the two-photon decay of highly excited atomic hydrogen and helium levels are considered. The necessary accuracy of calculating the transition probabilities is shown to require abandoning the purely dipole approximation in the theory of atomic hydrogen radiation. The range of applicability of the perturbation theory to this process is discussed. We suggest a new mechanism of the Lyman photon redistribution due to very close locations of the 20P and 19P levels in the hydrogen and deuterium atoms, respectively (hydrogen-deuterium resonance).     

CMB recombination lines of hydrogen: The differential spectrum

We have calculated the distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum in the wavelength range 2–50 cm due to the superposition of the CMB hydrogen recombination radiation in subordinate lines. The level populations were determined by numerically solving the equation of recombination kinetics together with the statistical equilibrium equations for a 60-level model hydrogen atom. The relative distortions are ≈10^?7–10^?6, with their wavelength dependence having a low-contrast, wavy pattern. However, the contrast increases severalfold and becomes pronounced when passing to the differential distortion spectrum. We study the dependence of the distortions on cosmological parameters.     

Hydrogen absorption lines in the cosmic microwave background spectrum

We have calculated the intensities of the subordinate hydrogen lines formed during the recombination epoch at redshifts 800?z?1600. We show that an allowance for the angular momentum splitting of hydrogen atomic energy levels and the dipole transition selection rules can reveal absorption features in the cosmic microwave background recombination spectrum in the submillimeter wavelength range.     

Absorption in the 21-cm Line in Primordial Matter Density Fluctuations at the Stage of Their Nonlinear Compression

The mechanisms of absorption formation in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum at the frequency of the 21-cm line of the transition between the ground-state hyperfine sublevels of the hydrogen atom are analyzed. We show that a strong nonlinearity at the compression stage of primordial matter density fluctuations can give rise to a significant (in depth) absorption even before the explosions of the first stars. In this case, the main effect is due to the heating of matter in a certain narrow range of temperatures under cloud compression. We consider a steady-state radiative transfer in the 21-cm line in a medium that represents a contracting primordial matter density fluctuation at a given redshift z modeled by a homogeneous spherically symmetric cloud in the state of collapse with an adiabatic change in the gas temperature. For a sequence of cloud states with different degrees of compression we have calculated the frequency profiles of the line in the flux of radiation emerging from the cloud. In the initial state we specify the cloud radius r₀, while the gas density is assumed to be equal to the mean cosmological density for a given redshift. We show that for a separate cloud at z = 20, r₀ = 1 kpc, and a degree of radius compression of 1.9 the absorption depth in the line center can reach 0.9 K. When averaged over an ensemble of clouds, the central frequency of the line and its width are determined by the details of the fluctuation evolution dynamics.

     

Recombination dynamics of primordial hydrogen and helium (He I) in the universe

We calculated the ionization fraction for hydrogen and helium (He I) as a function of the redshift z by including the two-photon decays of high hydrogen and parahelium levels and the radiative transfer in the helium 2³P₁ ? 1¹S₀ intercombination line. We show that this yields corrections of no more than a few percent to the ionization fraction for hydrogen and speeds up significantly the recombination for helium compared to the recent works by Seager et al. (1999, 2000), in which these effects were disregarded.     

Spectral and spatial fluctuations of cosmic microwave background radiation. RATAN-600 radio telescope observations with a Fourier spectral analyzer

The “circumpolar survey” technique allowed us to achieve a rather high antenna temperature sensitivity of 0.5 mK at 6 cm on a fixed antenna with a relatively narrow frequency resolution band (600 kHz) and an angular resolution of 45″ × 7′. Starting from 2007 we use a Fourier spectral analyzer with a survey band 10 times broader than that of previous observations. This upgrade allowed us to rapidly perform repeated test observations, which confirmed the power-law nature and the frequency structure of spatial spectra in two strips in the vicinity of the celestial pole in the 4′–16′ interval of angular periods. These observations also showed that the Galactic CH molecular line that was by chance captured in our survey strip (Λ-doubling of rotational transition) has nothing to do with the emission spectra we obtained. The angular pattern of emission in two main lines of Λ-doubling (4847.84 and 4870.12 MHz) is absolutely different, whereas there is practically no maser amplification in the CH line to explain this fact. Our observations also confirm the H110 α line (4874.157 MHz), which forms in the tenuous ionized Galactic hydrogen at such relatively high latitudes. Other features of the spatial spectra also appear to be quite real, although their interpretation remains unclear and requires further studies.     

Search for spatial and spectral fluctuations of cosmic microwave background radiation with the ratan-600 radio telescope. The 2001–2006 observations

We report some of the results of the search for narrow-band spatial and spectral fluctuations of cosmic microwave background at the wavelength of 6.2 cmperformed with the RATAN-600 radio telescope in 2001–2006 in two 35′ × 7′ strips on the sky in the vicinity of the North Celestial Pole. We find the spectra of spatial fluctuations in the 12 MHz radio-frequency band and in the interval of spatial periods from 4′ to 16′ to exhibit power-law rises with exponents reaching ?2.0±0.5, with a periodicity of 2–3 MHz. We also find two narrow-band (in terms of angular frequency) features at 4870.4 and 4871.5 MHz with the corresponding fluctuation amplitudes of 5±0.5 mK in terms of antenna temperature in the vicinity of angular periods of about 5′ with the frequency bandwidths of about 600 kHz. Standard tests performed using the spectra of the half-sum and half-difference of two groups of observations randomly drawn from a total sample of 23 records of the March 2002 observing set confirm the reality of the features of the angular spectrumof fluctuations mentioned above and so does the comparison with the spectra of cold matched load connected to the receiver input instead of the antenna. However, the nature of the features found remains unclear. Our attempt to link this radiation to rotational transitions ²Π_1/2, J = 5/2 of the CH molecule, which has one of the components of its multiplet located inside the frequency interval of interest considered failed.     

A new spectrum analyzer for radio astronomical studies with the radio telescope RATAN-600

The spectral measuring facility with a new Fourier analyzer for use with the radio telescope RATAN-600 is described and its experimental data are reported.