Thermalization of Starlight in the Steady-State Cosmology

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that in the Steady-State Cosmology, starlight becomes thermalized into a cosmic microwave background-like radiation after about 450 billion years, matching observed CMB properties.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis showing how starlight in the Steady-State Cosmology naturally evolves into a black-body radiation similar to the CMB, challenging previous claims.

Findings

Starlight is unaffected by ions until it reaches plasma frequency.

Radiation becomes thermalized after approximately 450 Gyr.

Predicted radiation matches the observed CMB temperature of about 2.7 K.

Abstract

We investigate the fate of starlight in the Steady-State Cosmology. We discover that it is largely unaffected by the presence of ions in intergalactic space as it gets progressively red-shifted from the visible all the way down to the plasma frequency of the intergalactic matter. At that point, after about 450 Gyr - and contrary to previously published claims - the radiation will be thermalized. Under the assumptions adopted by Gold, Bondi, Hoyle, Narlikar, Burbidge and others concerning the creation of matter in the Steady-State Cosmology, and using reasonable estimates for the baryonic mass-density and mass-fraction of 4He, the analysis predicts a universal radiation field matching the CMB, i.e. having a black-body spectrum and temperature of about 2.7 K. The Steady-state Cosmology predicts that this radiation field will appear to originate from the intergalactic plasma.