Possibility of precise measurement of the cosmological power spectrum with a dedicated survey of 21 cm emission after reionization

Abstract

Measurements of the 21 cm line emission by residual cosmic hydrogen after reionization can be used to trace the power spectrum of density perturbations through a significant fraction of the observable volume of the Universe. We show that a dedicated 21cm observatory could probe a number of independent modes that is 2 orders of magnitude larger than currently available, and enable a cosmic-variance limited detection of the signature of a neutrino mass ∼0.05eV. The evolution of the linear growth factor with redshift could also constrain exotic theories of gravity or dark energy to an unprecedented precision. © 2008 The American Physical Society.