Exotic energy injection in the early Universe. I. A novel treatment for low-energy electrons and photons

Abstract

Decaying or annihilating dark matter and other exotic energy injections can modify the spectrum of the universe's photon bath, resulting in e.g., new contributions to spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background blackbody spectrum and modifications to the temperature and ionization history of the universe. Here, we present an improved version of the darkhistory code, which is now capable of consistently calculating the spectrum of low-energy photons by properly treating the interactions of these photons with the levels of hydrogen atoms. Other changes to the code include a more detailed treatment of energy deposition by low-energy electrons, and spectral distortions from heating of the intergalactic medium.