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Published on: November 15, 2013
Missing baryons and the warm-hot intergalactic medium
Fabrizio Nicastro1, Smita Mathur, Martin Elvis
1Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. fnicastro@cfa.harvard.edu
Cosmologists are searching for missing baryons, which are thought to be in a warm-hot intergalactic medium. Finding these elusive cosmic ingredients is key to validating our understanding of the universe.
Area of Science:
- Cosmology
- Astrophysics
- Intergalactic Medium
Background:
- The observable universe contains only half of the expected baryonic matter.
- The majority of baryons are hypothesized to exist in a warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM).
- This missing matter is thought to be shock-heated during cosmic structure formation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To locate the missing baryons in the universe.
- To create a complete inventory of baryonic matter.
- To test the standard cosmological model.
Main Methods:
- Observational astronomy
- Cosmological simulations
- Analysis of intergalactic gas properties
Main Results:
- The study focuses on the theoretical distribution of missing baryons.
- It highlights the expected properties of the warm-hot intergalactic medium.
- It emphasizes the need for observational evidence.
Conclusions:
- Confirming the existence and distribution of missing baryons is crucial.
- This research impacts our validation of the standard cosmological model.
- Further observational efforts are required to detect the warm-hot intergalactic medium.
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