Introduction to Cosmology Ryden · Problem 8.3

The Cosmic Microwave Background

Physics — Astrophysics · helium-recombination-temperature

Problem

Imagine that at the time of recombination, the baryonic portion of the universe consisted entirely of 4{}^4He (that is, helium with two protons and two neutrons in its nucleus). The ionization energy of helium (that is, the energy required to convert neutral He to He+^+) is QHe=24.6Q_{\rm He} = 24.6 eV. At what temperature would the fractional ionization of the helium be X=12X = \frac{1}{2}? Assume that η=6×10−10\eta = 6 \times 10^{-10} and that the number density of He++^{++} is negligibly small. [The relevant statistical weight factor for the ionization of helium is gHe/(gegHe+)=1/4g_{\rm He}/(g_e g_{\rm He^+}) = 1/4.]

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