Cosmic Needles versus Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

It has been suggested by a number of authors that the 2.7K cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation might have arisen from the radiation from Population III objects thermalized by conducting cosmic graphite/iron needle-shaped dust. Due to lack of an accurate solution to the absorption properties of exceedingly elongated grains, in existing literature which studies the CMB thermalizing process they are generally modelled as (1) needle-like spheroids in terms of the Rayleigh approximation; (2) infinite cylinders; and (3) the antenna theory. We show here that the Rayleigh approximation is not valid since the Rayleigh criterion is not satisfied for highly conducting needles. We also show that the available intergalactic iron dust, if modelled as infinite cylinders, is not sufficient to supply the required opacity at long wavelengths to obtain the observed isotropy and Planckian nature of the CMB. If appealing to the antenna theory, conducting iron needles with exceedingly large elongations (10^4) appear able to provide sufficient opacity to thermalize the CMB within the iron density limit. But the applicability of the antenna theory to exceedingly thin needles of nanometer/micrometer in thickness needs to be justified.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures; submitted to ApJ

Analytical Approach for the Determination of the Luminosity Distance in a Flat Universe with Dark Energy

Recent cosmological observations indicate that the present universe is flat and dark energy dominated. In such a universe, the calculation of the luminosity distance, d_L, involve repeated numerical calculations. In this paper, it is shown that a quite efficient approximate analytical expression, having very small uncertainties, can be obtained for d_L. The analytical calculation is shown to be exceedingly efficient, as compared to the traditional numerical methods and is potentially useful for Monte-Carlo simulations involving luminosity distances.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

The Detection of Cold Dust in Cas A: Evidence for the Formation of Metallic Needles in the Ejecta

Recently, Dunne et al. (2003) obtained 450 and 850 micron SCUBA images of CasA, and reported the detection of 2-4 M_sun of cold, 18K, dust in the remnant. Here we show that their interpretation of the observations faces serious difficulties. Their inferred dust mass is larger than the mass of refractory material in the ejecta of a 10 to 30 M_sun star. The cold dust model faces even more difficulties if the 170 micron observations of the remnant are included in the analysis, decreasing the cold dust temperature to ~ 8K, and increasing its mass to > 20 M_sun. We offer here a more plausible interpretation of their observation, in which the cold dust emission is generated by conducting needles with properties that are completely determined by the combined submillimeter and X-ray observations of the remnant. The needles consist of metallic whiskers with <1% of embedded impurities that may have condensed out of blobs of material that were expelled at high velocities from the inner metal-rich layers of the star in an asymmetric explosion. The needles are collisionally heated by the shocked gas to a temperature of 8K. Taking the destruction of needles into account, a dust mass of only 1E-4 to 1E-3M_sun is needed to account for the observed SCUBA emission. Aligned in the magnetic field, needles may give rise to observable polarized emission. The detection of submillimeter polarization will therefore offer definitive proof for a needle origin for the cold dust emission. Supernovae may still be proven to be important sources of interstellar dust, but the evidence is still inconclusive.Comment: 18 pages including 4 figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJ. Missing reference adde

Evolution of primordial planets in relation to the cosmological origin of life

We explore the conditions prevailing in primordial planets in the framework of the HGD cosmologies as discussed by Gibson and Schild. The initial stages of condensation of planet-mass H-4He gas clouds in trillion-planet clumps is set at 300,000 yr (0.3My) following the onset of plasma instabilities when ambient temperatures were >1000K. Eventual collapse of the planet-cloud into a solid structure takes place against the background of an expanding universe with declining ambient temperatures. Stars form from planet mergers within the clumps and die by supernovae on overeating of planets. For planets produced by stars, isothermal free fall collapse occurs initially via quasi equilibrium polytropes until opacity sets in due to molecule and dust formation. The contracting cooling cloud is a venue for molecule formation and the sequential condensation of solid particles, starting from mineral grains at high temperatures to ice particles at lower temperatures, water-ice becomes thermodynamically stable between 7 and 15 My after the initial onset of collapse, and contraction to form a solid icy core begins shortly thereafter. Primordial-clump-planets are separated by ~ 1000 AU, reflecting the high density of the universe at 30,000 yr. Exchanges of materials, organic molecules and evolving templates readily occur, providing optimal conditions for an initial origin of life in hot primordial gas planet water cores when adequately fertilized by stardust. The condensation of solid molecular hydrogen as an extended outer crust takes place much later in the collapse history of the protoplanet. When the object has shrunk to several times the radius of Jupiter, the hydrogen partial pressure exceeds the saturation vapour pressure of solid hydrogen at the ambient temperature and condensation occurs.Comment: 14 pages 7 figures SPIE Conference 7819 Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII Proceedings, Aug 3-5, 2010, San Diego, Ed. Richard B. Hoove