Global Signals of the First Molecules from the Dark Ages in the Presence of Primordial Magnetic Fields

Abstract

We investigate how primordial magnetic fields (PMFs) affect the formation kinetics of the first molecules, H$_2$, HD, and HeH$^+$, as well as the populations of rovibrational levels and the global signals in the rovibrational transitions of H$_2$ and HD. We show that PMFs can significantly speed up the formation and destruction of the first molecules, leading to an increase in the number density of H$_2$ and HD molecules and a decrease in the number density of HeH$^+$ ion-molecules compared to the case without PMFs. We demonstrate that more frequent collisions of the gas particles in such models alter the ortho-to-para ratio of hydrogen molecules, making it a potential probe of the thermal history of gas in the early Universe. In contrast to the standard cosmological model, where the global signal from the first molecules appears as an absorption feature in the cosmic microwave background spectrum, cosmological models with PMFs can produce an emission signal. Specifically, for non-helical PMFs with $n_B = -2.9$ and a strength of $\sim 1$~nG, the signal transforms into emission with an amplitude of about $\sim 0.5$~Jy/sr. This signal is comparable in magnitude to other known CMB spectral distortions and falls within the detection capabilities of several proposed missions, including Super-PIXIE, Multi-SIMBAD (4 units), and Voyage2050. We show that both the amplitude and the spectral range of the global signals from the first molecules are highly sensitive to the spectral index $n_B$, the strength $B_0$, and the helicity of the PMFs. Therefore, the global signals from the first molecules can serve as a potential probe of PMFs.