Radiative cooling functions for primordial molecules
Abstract
Cooling of primordial gas plays a crucial role in the birth of the first structures in our Universe. Due to the low fractional abundance of molecular species at high redshifts, spontaneous emission rather than collisions represents the most efficient way to cool the pristine plasma. In the present work, radiative cooling functions are evaluated for the diatomic species HD, HD+, HeH+, LiH and LiH+. Cooling functions for the triatomic ions H3+ and H2D+ are also considered. Analytic fits as functions of temperature are provided.
Turn this paper into a lesson
ArcXiv compiles a structured reading guide from this paper's metadata: plain-English importance, contributions, prerequisite concepts, which sections to read first, flashcards, and a quiz. Grounded in the abstract, never invented.