I Is the supply of the observable CMB radiation limited?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on whether the supply of observable Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is limited due to its origins during the recombination era. It is established that CMB photons were freed when the universe cooled to about 3,000 K, allowing them to travel through space, but only those emitted from within the event horizon at that time can reach us now. Although the number of emission events is finite, the CMB will not disappear entirely; as the universe expands, photons from increasingly distant shells will continue to arrive, albeit at a decreasing rate. The conversation also highlights the importance of understanding the event horizon, which defines the boundary of observable regions in the universe. Ultimately, while the observable CMB is limited to certain origins, it will persist in reaching us for trillions of years to come.
  • #51
JimJCW said:
In an infinite, non-expanding universe, if there was a starting CMB in blackbody and the photons were redshifted later by, for example, a tired-light mechanism, the blackbody nature of the CMB would not be able to maintain because there was no dilution of the photon density.
A "tired light" mechanism would not maintain the blackbody nature of the CMB even in an expanding universe. You have already given references that show that. The reason has nothing to do with "no dilution of the photon density"; it has to do with the fact that a "tired light" mechanism does not produce a redshift due to spacetime geometry and relative motion; it produces it by an interaction with intervening matter. That is why, every time I have said that a redshifted blackbody is still a blackbody, I have qualified it by saying that the redshift must be due to spacetime geometry and relative motion.

Your original question has been answered, repeatedly, and how redshifting of a blackbody works have been discussed in some detail. Enough is enough. Thread closed.
 
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