{"paper":{"title":"The Physical State of the Intergalactic Medium or Can We Measure Y?","license":"","headline":"","cross_cats":[],"primary_cat":"astro-ph","authors_text":"A. Blanchard (Observatoire de Strasbourg), D. Barbosa, J.G. Bartlett","submitted_at":"1995-06-26T16:38:10Z","abstract_excerpt":"We present an argument for a {\\it lower limit} to the Compton-$y$ parameter describing spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The absence of a detectable Gunn-Peterson signal in the spectra of high redshift quasars demands a high ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Given an ionizing flux at the lower end of the range indicated by the proximity effect, an IGM representing a significant fraction of the nucleosynthesis-predicted baryon density must be heated by sources other than the photon flux to a temperature $\\go {\\rm few} \\times 10^5\\, K$. Such a gas a"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"astro-ph/9506125","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}