Download or read book Constraining the Epoch of Recombination with Recent Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background written by Angela M. Linn and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: The radiation in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) last scattered off of matter during the epoch of recombination, when nuclei captured electrons for the first time, and its predicted anisotropy power spectra are sensitive to the details of recombination. In light of recent high quality observations of the CMB, it is worthwhile to re-examine the constraints that can be placed on recombination. We use a very general extension to the standard model of recombination characterized by two parameters, a and b, which multiply the overall rates of recombination and ionization and the binding energies of hydrogen respectively. We utilize WMAP temperature and TE cross-correlation data, along with temperature data at smaller scales from ACBAR and CBI, to place constraints on these parameters. The range of recombination histories which are the best match to the data fall within the range -0.4