Search

Our aim is to observationally investigate the cosmic Dark Ages in order to constrain star and structure formation models, as well as the chemical evolution in the early Universe. Spectral lines from atoms and molecules in primordial perturbations at high redshifts can give information about the conditions in the early universe before and during the formation of the first stars in addition to the epoch of reionisation. The lines may arise from moving primordial perturbations before the formation of the first stars (resonant scattering lines), or could be thermal absorption or emission lines at lower redshifts. The difficulties in these searches are that the source redshift and evolutionary state, as well as molecular species and transition are unknown, which implies that an observed line can fall within a wide range of frequencies. The lines are also expected to be very weak. Observations from space have the advantages of stability and the lack of atmospheric features which is important in such observations. We have therefore, as a first step in our searches, used the Odin satellite to perform two sets of spectral line surveys towards several positions. The first survey covered the band 547-578 GHz towards two positions, and the second one covered the bands 542.0-547.5 GHz and 486.5-492.0 GHz towards six positions selected to test different sizes of the primordial clouds. Two deep searches centred at 543.250 and 543.100 GHz with 1 GHz bandwidth were also performed towards one position. The two lowest rotational transitions of H2 will be redshifted to these frequencies from z~20-30, which is the predicted epoch of the first star formation. No lines are detected at an rms level of 14-90 and 5-35 mK for the two surveys, respectively, and 2-7 mK in the deep searches with a channel spacing of 1-16 MHz. The broad bandwidth covered allows a wide range of redshifts to be explored for a number of atomic and molecular species and transitions. From the theoretical side, our sensitivity analysis show that the largest possible amplitudes of the resonant lines are about 1 mK at frequencies <200 GHz, and a few micro K around 500-600 GHz, assuming optically thick lines and no beam-dilution. However, if existing, thermal absorption lines have the potential to be orders of magnitude stronger than the resonant lines. We make a simple estimation of the sizes and masses of the primordial perturbations at their turn-around epochs, which previously has been identified as the most favourable epoch for a detection. This work may be considered as an important pilot study for our forthcoming observations with the Herschel Space Observatory., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 3 on-line pages. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics 8 March 2010.

Primordial molecules were formed during the Dark Ages, i.e. the time between recombination and reionization in the early Universe. The purpose of this article is to analyze the formation of primordial molecules based on heavy elements during the Dark Ages, with elemental abundances taken from different nucleosynthesis models. We present calculations of the full non-linear equation set governing the primordial chemistry. We consider the evolution of 45 chemical species and use an implicit multistep method of variable order of precision with an adaptive stepsize control. We find that the most abundant Dark Ages molecules based on heavy elements are CH and OH. Non-standard nucleosynthesis can lead to higher heavy element abundances while still satisfying the observed primordial light abundances. In that case, we show that the abundances of molecular species based on C, N, O and F can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude compared to the standard case, leading to a CH relative abundance higher than that of HD+ or H2D+., Comment: 14 pages, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics

The presence of a primordial molecular or atomic medium can give us the possibility to investigate the first phases of the structure formation. The lines produced by resonant scattering of the CMB photons are the most important signals coming from the dark age of the post-recombination universe. The possibility to detect these lines with ODIN and Herschel satellites are investigated., Comment: 4 pages; to appear in ESA SP-577, Proceedings of the conference "Dusty and Molecular Universe - A prelude to HERSCHEL and ALMA", October 25-27, 2004, Paris

The Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect was previously measured in the Coma cluster by the Owens Valley Radio Observatory and Millimeter and IR Testa Grigia Observatory experiments and recently also with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satellite. We assess the consistency of these results and their implications on the feasibility of high-frequency SZ work with ground-based telescopes. The unique data set from the combined measurements at six frequency bands is jointly analyzed, resulting in a best-fit value for the Thomson optical depth at the cluster center, tau_{0}=(5.35 \pm 0.67) 10^{-3}. The combined X-ray and SZ determined properties of the gas are used to determine the Hubble constant. For isothermal gas with a \beta density profile we derive H_0 = 84 \pm 26 km/(s\cdot Mpc); the (1\sigma) error includes only observational SZ and X-ray uncertainties., Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure

We have measured the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect towards the Coma cluster (A1656) with the MITO experiment, a 2.6-m telescope equipped with a 4-channel 17 arcminute (FWHM) photometer. Measurements at frequency bands 143+/-15, 214+/-15, 272+/-16 and 353+/-13 GHz, were made during 120 drift scans of Coma. We describe the observations and data analysis that involved extraction of the S-Z signal by employing a spatial and spectral de-correlation scheme to remove a dominant atmospheric component. The deduced values of the thermal S-Z effect in the first three bands are DT_{0} = -179+/-38,-33+/-81,170+/-35 microKelvin in the cluster center. The corresponding optical depth, tau=(4.1+/-0.9) 10^{-3}, is consistent (within errors) with both the value from a previous low frequency S-Z measurement, and the value predicted from the X-ray deduced gas parameters., Comment: Ap.J.Letters accepted, 4 pages, 2 figures

Chemistry plays a particular role in astrophysics. After atomic hydrogen, helium and their ions, the Universe probably contains more mass in molecules than in any other species. Molecule formation in the early, pre-galactic Universe may have had much to do with the formation of galaxies themselves. In this context the possible interaction between primordial molecules and photons of the Cosmic Microwave Background is very important through the theoretical perspectives and constraints which could give some information on the theory of the large scale structure formation. In this paper we recall the more recent progresses on the chemistry of the early Universe, and describe the importance of molecules in the formation phase of proto objects. A special attention is done concerning the {\it case of LiH., Comment: 8 pages, Talk given at 2K1BC Workshop, July 9-12, 2001, Breuil-Cervinia (Italy)

Over the last decade, cosmological observations have attained a level of precision which allows for very detailed comparison with theoretical predictions. We are beginning to learn the answers to some fundamental questions, using information contained in Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy (CMBA) data. In this talk, we briefly review some studies of the current and prospected constraints imposed by CMBA measurements on the neutrino physics and on the dark energy. As it was already announced by Scott (1999), we present some possible "new physics" from the Cosmic Microwave Background., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Talk given at 2K1BC Workshop, July 9-12, 2001, Breuil-Cervinia (Italy)

The "dark age" of the Universe is generally pointed out as the period between the recombination epoch and the horizon of current observations (z=5-6). The arrow of time in the cosmic history describes the progression from simplicity to complexity, because the present Universe is clumpy and complicated unlike the homogeneous early Universe. Thus it is crucial to know the nature of the constituents, in order to understand the conditions of the formation of the first bound objects. In this paper we analyse the chemical history of this "dark age" through the creation of the primordial nuclei to the formation of the first atoms and molecules. Then we will describe the consequences of the molecular formation on the birth of the proto-objects. In this context we will mention the important works of Dennis W. Sciama who influenced a large number of theorists -cosmologists and astronomers- on this new field of research dedicated to primordial molecules., Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure, Special Issue dedicated to Pr. Dennis W. Sciama

These lecture notes intend to form a short pedagogical introduction to the use of typical type Ia-Supernovae (hereafter SNIa) as standard candles to determine the energy density of the universe. Problems of principle for taking SNIa as cosmological probes are pointed out, and new attempts at solving them are indicated including the empirical width-luminosity relation and its possible explanations. Finally, the observations of SNIa at high redshift carried out by two major teams are briefly reviewed and their interpretation as evidence for an accelerating universe is also rapidly discussed., Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures

We discuss the influence of the finite extension and the geometry of clusters of galaxies, as well as of the polytropic temperature profile, on the determination of the Hubble constant., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

In this paper we investigate the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and the X-ray surface brightness for clusters of galaxies with a non-spherical mass distribution. In particular, we consider the influence of the shape and the finite extension of a cluster as well as of a polytropic thermal profile on the Compton parameter, the X-ray surface brightness and on the determination of the Hubble constant. We find that the the non-inclusion of such effects can induce errors up to 30 per cent in the various parameters and in particular on the Hubble constant value, when compared with results obtained under the isothermal, infinitely extended and spherical shape assumptions., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Astron. Astrophys. 363, 415, 2000

It is now well known that a primordial chemistry, involving light elements produced during the nucleosynthesis period, might develop during the hydrogen post-recombination era. In particular, molecular ions and primordial molecules such as H2, HD and LiH will be produced. We summarize this primordial chemistry after the recombination epoch, and then present a simple gravitational collapse model of a cloud. The potentiality of fragmentation of this collapsing protoclouds through the thermal instability is also discussed. We suggest that this study could also be extended to the CO molecule, because the carbon reservoir molecule CO has already been observed in high redshifts objects., Comment: 12 pages, 1 figures, Invited Talk at 3K Cosmology Conference-Roma October 98

The study of primordial chemistry of molecules adresses a number of interesting questions pertaining to the thermal balance of collapsing molecular protoclouds. In numerous astrophysical cases molecular cooling and heating influence dynamical evolution of the medium. The existence of a significant abundance of molecules can be crucial on the dynamical evolution of collapsing objects. Because the cloud temperature increases with contraction, a cooling mechanism can be important for the structure formation, by lowering pressure opposing gravity, i.e. by allowing continued collapse of Jeans unstable protoclouds. This is particularly true for the first generation of objects. It has been suggested that a finite amount of molecules such as $H_2$, $HD$ and $LiH$ can be formed immediately after the recombination of cosmological hydrogen (Lepp and Shull 1984, Puy et al 1993). The cosmological fractional abundance $HD/H_2$ is small. Nevertheless, the presence of a non-zero permanent electric dipole moment makes $HD$ a potentially more important coolant than $H_2$ at modest temperatures, although $HD$ is much less abundant than $H_2$. Recently Puy and Signore (1997) showed that during the early stages of gravitational collapse, for some collapsing masses, $HD$ molecules were the main cooling agent when the collapsing protostructure had a temperature of about 200 Kelvins. Thus, we analytically estimate the molecular cooling during the collapse of protoclouds Then, the possibility of thermal instability during the early phase of gravitational collapse is discussed., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

After the recombination of Hydrogen, primordial molecules such as H_2, $HD$ can be formed.The formation of structures in the post-recombination gaseous medium is commonly explained by primordial density fluctuations. In a self-gravitating collapsing cloud, temperature tends to increase with contraction. In this context molecular lines emissions can play an important role in the thermal balance of collapsing molecular clouds and in the dynamics of collapsing proto-cloud. We calculate analytically the molecular cooling due to H_2 and $HD$. Our analysis is done under the hypothesis we consider only the first two excited levels of the H_2 and $HD$ molecules. The potentiality of fragmentation of collapsing protoclouds through the thermal instability is discussed. Finally we suggest that this study could also be extended to the $CO$ molecule., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

The possibility to detect cosmological signals from the post-recombination Universe is one of the main aims of modern cosmology. In a previous paper we emphasized the role that elastic resonant scattering through LiH molecules can have in dumping primary CBR anisotropies and raising secondary signals. Here we extend our analysis to all the evolutionary stages of a primordial cloud, starting with the linear phase, through the turn-around and to the non linear collapse. We have done calculations for proto-clouds in a CDM scenario and, more generally, for a set of clouds with various masses and various turn-around redshifts, in this case without referring to any particular structure formation scenario. We found that the first phase of collapse, for $t/t_{free-fall}=0.05\div 0.2$ is the best one for simultaneous detection of the first two LiH rotational lines. The observational frequency falls between 30 and 250 GHz and the line width ${\Delta \nu\over \nu}$ is between $10^{-5}$ and $10^{-4}$. As far as we know this is the most favourable process to detect primordial clouds before they start star formation processes., Comment: 26 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript, 7 figures included. Accepted for publication in Ap. J