Recombination of H and He in Yang–Mills Gravity

Abstract

We investigate some aspects of the thermal history of the early universe according to Yang–Mills Gravity (YMG); a gauge theory of gravity set in flat space–time. Specifically, equations for the ionization fractions of hydrogen and singly ionized helium during the recombination epoch are deduced analytically and then solved numerically. By considering several approximations, we find that the presence of primordial helium and its interaction with Lyman series photons has a much stronger effect on the overall free electron density in YMG than it does in the standard, General Relativity (GR)-based, model. Compared to the standard model, recombination happens over a much larger range of temperatures, although there is still a very sharp temperature of last scattering around 2000 K. The ionization history of the universe is not directly observable, but knowledge of it is necessary for CMB power spectrum calculations. Such calculations will provide another rigorous test of YMG and will be explored in detail in an upcoming paper.