The EDGES signal: An imprint from the mirror world?

Abstract

Recent results from the Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature (EDGES) show an anomalous spectral feature at redshifts z∼15–20 in its 21-cm absorption signal. This deviation from cosmological predictions can be understood as a consequence of physics that either lower the hydrogen spin temperature or increases the radiation temperature through the injection of soft photons in the bath. In the latter case, standard model neutrino decays νi→νjγ induced by effective magnetic and electric transition moments (μeff) are precluded by the tight astrophysical constraints on μeff. We show that if mirror neutrinos are present in the bath at early times, an analogous mechanism in the mirror sector can lead to a population of mirror photons that are then “processed” into visible photons through resonant conversion, thus accounting for the EDGES signal. We point out that the mechanism can work for mirror neutrinos which are either heavier than or degenerate with the standard model (SM) neutrinos, a scenario naturally realized in mirror twin Higgs models. Keywords: Cosmic dark ages, Reionization epoch, Neutrino transition moments, Dark photons, Mirror neutrinos, Twin Higgs models