Dark Baryons in the Universe: the Quest Goes On

dc.creatorSalucci, Paolo
dc.creatorPersic, Massimo
dc.date1996-01-05
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-25T12:46:25Z
dc.descriptionWe show that the high local baryonic fraction, M(bar) ~ 1/3 M(tot), found in groups and clusters of galaxies does not reconcile the observed cosmological baryon density with the standard Big-Bang prediction. Taking into account recent measurements on the hot-gas content and temperature functions of clusters and groups, we get Omega(gas) = 0.0023 h_{50}^{-1.5} ~ 4% Omega(BBN). Including the contributions of galaxies and of (local) Ly-alpha clouds we estimate Omega(bar) ~ 0.004-0.006 < 10% Omega(BBN) as the amount of detected baryons. Most of the synthesised atoms are still to be discovered. We propose to relate the impressive presence of the hot gas component in clusters with the very low, mass-dependent efficiency of the process of galaxy formation in making stars from the primordial gas.
dc.descriptionsubmitted to MNRAS; 5 pages, Tex file (ask the first Author for the postscript files of two figures)
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9601018
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9601018
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.dare.co.zw/handle/123456789/11656
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleDark Baryons in the Universe: the Quest Goes On
dc.typetext

Files

Collections