论文标题
Snowmass2021宇宙边界白皮书:21厘米辐射作为宇宙年龄的物理探针
Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier White Paper: 21cm Radiation as a Probe of Physics Across Cosmic Ages
论文作者
论文摘要
21cm线是指与质子和电子旋转对齐相关的中性氢中禁止的过渡。这是一个非常低的能量转变,每当宇宙中有中性氢时发出。由于重子大部分是(〜75%)的氢,因此原则上可以检测到整个宇宙历史的整个历史。在宇宙年龄之间,主要的发射机制不同。在将光子与物质解次之前,氢处于离子状态,在21厘米内不会发射。重组和黑暗时代后,在z〜30-1000时,21厘米发射与中性氢培养基中的密度波动有关。第一颗恒星打开并开始形成星系后,中性培养基海中的21厘米发射痕迹气泡气泡。这个跨越Z〜6-30的时代通常称为宇宙黎明和电离时代(EOR)。在Z <6以下的红移时,播层间培养基在很大程度上是电离的,但是在密集的银河环境中,自屏蔽的中性气体形式和21厘米发射痕迹痕迹是星系的分布。截然不同的排放机制使我们能够在不同的红移处探测非常不同的物理学,与不同的观察频率相对应。但是,工具性的挑战是建立非常敏感且精美的射电望远镜,但是,跨频带之间有许多共同点。 21厘米探针的潜力已被际天文学和天体物理学调查所认识到,其宇宙学小组将黑暗时代确定为其唯一发现区域。我们认为,HEP应该认识到21厘米的潜力是许多轴上的基本物理学的探测,并投资于技术开发,这将使能够充分利用这种丰富的技术。
The 21cm line refers to a forbidden transition in neutral hydrogen associated with alignment of spins of the proton and electron. It is a very low energy transition that is emitted whenever there is neutral hydrogen in the Universe. Since baryons are mostly (~75%) hydrogen, one can in principle detect this emission throughout much of the history of the Universe. The dominant emission mechanism is different across cosmic ages. Before the photons decouple from matter, hydrogen is in an ionized state and does not emit in 21cm. After recombination and during the Dark Ages, at z ~ 30-1000, the 21cm emission is associated with density fluctuations in the neutral hydrogen medium. After the first stars turn on and galaxies begin to form, the 21cm emission traces bubbles of ionized hydrogen in the sea of the neutral medium. This epoch, spanning z ~ 6-30, is often referred to as cosmic dawn and the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). At redshifts below z<6, the intergalactic medium is largely ionized, but pockets of self-shielded neutral gas form in dense galactic environments and 21cm emission traces the distribution of galaxies. The vastly different emission mechanisms allow us to probe very different physics at different redshifts, corresponding to different observational frequencies. The instrumental challenges, namely building very sensitive and exquisitely calibrated radio telescopes, however, share many commonalities across frequency bands. The potential of the 21cm probe has been recognized by the Decadal Survey of Astronomy & Astrophysics, whose Panel on Cosmology identified the Dark Ages as its sole discovery area. We argue that HEP should recognize the potential of 21cm as a probe of fundamental physics across many axes and invest in the technology development that will enable full exploitation of this rich technique.