A Search for X-ray Reionization Signatures from Cross-correlation of Wmap and Rosat Rass Data

We present an observational search for the possible correlation between cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization map and soft X-ray background (SXRB) based on the ROSAT All-sky Survey (RASS) archive and WMAP fiveyear observations. This is motivated by the fact that some of the CMB polarization may arise from the scattering of CMB photons due to the free electrons generated by X-ray heating sources in the epoch of reionization. Detection of such a correlation allows one to study the role of X-ray heating in the process of reionization. However, the cross angular power spectrum of the CMB polarization and SXRB maps constructed from ROSAT RASS and WMAP five-year maps is consistent with no correlation. We attribute this negative detection to both the extremely weak signals and large instrumental noises. While a future search is needed with high sensitivity instruments for both CMB polarization and soft X-ray photons, our current results can still be used as a useful constraint on the effect of X-ray heating in the epoch of reionization. Subject headings: cosmology: cosmic microwave background — large-scale structure — X-rays: galaxies